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SKETCHES 



OF THE 



DOMESTIC MANNERS, 



AND 



INSTITUTIONS, 



OF 



" Rornanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatam." — Virgil 



PHILADELPHIA : 
H. C. CAREY & I. LEA— CHESNUT STREET, 

AND H. C. CARET & CO. NO. 157, BROADWAY, NEW YOTtK- 

1822. 



DEDICATION. 



TO 

MR. DE LA ROCHE, 

DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE AT CAEN ? 
IN NORMANDY, &C. &C. &C« 

Sir, 

There are but few occupations in which a 
man may be more worthily, or more honorably, en- 
gaged, than in the education of youth: nor any, in 
which the conscientious discharge of its arduous and 
important duties, deserves more of public regard 
an 1 private acknowledgement. 

The distinguished manner in which you fill the 
situation of Superior of the great seminary over 
which you preside, entitles you to that large share 
of consideration which you hold in the general esti- 
mation; and the truly paternal care which you have 
bestowed on the education of my sons — the deepest 
obligation that can be conferred on a parent — demands 
from me, personally, the warmest expression of my 
thanks. 



ii DEDICATION. 

In dedicating this work to you, Sir, I, therefore, 
only perform a duty; and I beg you to accept of it, 
as a feeble testimony of the respect, and a slight 
tribute of the gratitude, with which I have the hon- 
our to be, 

Your most devoted, 

and obedient servant, 



THE AUTHOR. 



London* 
SUt May, 1821. 



PREFACE. 



It has often been remarked that, amongst all the 
laboured volumes which have been written on the 
subject of the. antiquities of the Romans, we possess 
no compendious account of their domestic customs 
alone; and that, although every well-educated person 
is acquainted with the Roman history , but few have an 
accurate idea of Roman manners. It is, indeed, only 
to be acquired by toiling through a variety of authors 
with which the generality of readers are but imperfect- 
ly acquainted; and ladies, in particular, are deterred 
froai the study by the classical allusions and the 
learned quotations in which the subject has been 
usually envelopped. 

It, therefore, occurred to the Author, that a concise 
account of the state of society in ancient Rome, 
clothed in plain language, divested, as far as possible, 
of Latin terms, and pruned of all subjects which 
effend against delicacy, could not fail to be service* 
able to young persons of both sexes who are com- 



iy PREFACE. 

pleting their education; and might, perhaps, not prove 
siiiacceptable to some of riper years. He claims no 
other merit in the execution of the task he has 
undertaken, than that of having attentively compared 
various authorities, and of having recorded such facts 5 
only, as are either incontestably established, or gen- 
erally received. The learned reader will, indeed, 
discover some on which a difference of a opinion 
exists among the best informed commentators; but, 
as it was not the Author's object to enter into any 
discussion respecting them, he has adopted, without 
remark, that which appeared to him the most enti- 
tled to preference, ljt may also be objected, that 
many of the instances he has adduced are trite; that 
the quotations from the poets are too numerous; and, 
that he has omitted some prominent features in the 
Roman character. But, an historical work must 
necessarily contain allusions to facts already known; 
the poets have only been introduced when the author 
conceived that they would elucidate the subject with 
more advantage than he could himself; and, for the 
omission of scenes, often disgusting in themselves, 
and from which neither valuable information could be 
derived, nor any moral inference deduced, no apology 
is deemed necessary. 

The chief matter has been extracted from a French 
work of long-standing reputation, the production of 
Professor d'Arnay, a gentleman well known to the 



PREFACE. V 

literary world in the department of the belles lettreso 
The other modern works to which the Author is the 
most indebted, are, "Kennet," u Potter," and u Dr 
Alexander Adam, on Roman antiquities;" the splen- 
did publication of Count Caylus on the same subject; 
and the various commentators on Pliny, Juvenal, 
and Persius, amongst whom he feels bound to dis- 
tinguish Mr. Gifford: his other obligations are gen- 
erally acknowledged in the notes. 

How far the Author has succeeded in the object 
he had in contemplation, it remains for the Public 
to determine. He is, himself, conscious of too many 
defects in the work, not to have just reason to appre- 
hend the test of criticism: but he will not deprecate 
its censure by misplaced apologies, or by a detail of 
difficulties in the execution of so trifling a production, 
although they who have experienced the labour of 
compilation will no doubt admit, that they are neither 
few nor easily surmounted; and he only trusts it may 
be recollected, that he professes to present but a 
mere outline, which may yet be filled up by some 
abler hand, 



DsrassniSc 



Page 
CHAP. I. 

On the State of Society in Ancient Rome - - - 1 

CHAP. II. 
On the Classification of the People— and the 
Magistracy 9 

CHAP. III. 

On the Connection between Patrons and Clients 
— the Bar — and Jurisprudence ------- 2S 

CHAP- IV. 

On the City of Rome — Medical Practice and 
Money ------- SO 

CHAP. V. 

On Villas and Gardens . - 47 

CHAP. VI. 

On the Computation of Tiiae — the Ministers of 
Worship — and Religion ---------- 5f 

CHAP. vir. 
On the Morning Avocation of the Inhabitants «*f 
Rome - 69 

CHAP. VIII. 

On Evening Amusements - 79 

CHAP. IX. 
On galleries and Libraries - 87 



401 CONTENTS. 

Page* 
CHAP. X. 

On Aqueducts and Baths - - « - - 97 

CHAP. XL 
On Houses and Furniture — and the Etiquette of 
Supper - - ---- 10S 

CHAP. XIL 

On Convivial Entertainments - - - 114 

CHAP X ill. 

On the CuUure of the Vine — Horticulture— 
and Foreign Commerce - - - - - ISO 

CHAP. XIV. 
On Theatrical Entertainments ------ 139 

CHAP. XV. 
On Male Attire - - - • - - - - 154 

CHAP. XVI. 
On Female Dress --------------- 165 

CHAP. XVII. * 

On Marriage Ceremonies - - 177 

CHAP. XVI H. 
On the Laws of Divorce — and Concubinage -187 

CHAP. XiX. 

On the Power of Parents over their Children 
^—Family Names — and Education 19S 

CHAP. XX. 

On Funeral Rites £05 

Index - ----- - - - - - - - ~ - £11 



SKETCHES 



i®mni^@ s&&MmB§ 



INSTITUTIONS 



THE ^lO^AXS. 



! 



CHAPTER I. 

• 

State of Society in ancient Rome. — Jlgricultiire.^Quin* 
his Cincinnatus: Marcus Curius: Scipio Jlfricanus: 
Caio the Censor. — Market-Days, — Civil Distensions. — ■ 
Progress of Luxury. —Change of Manners, — Staves.— 
Qppian Law. — Corruption of the Government. 

THE occupations and the manners of domestic 
society are usually influenced by men's fortunes: ac- 
cordingly* those of the Romans varied at different 
periods of their history. 

Under their kings, the ordinary wants of life, and 
the dangers of war, divided their cares during a pe- 
riod of two hundred and forty-four years. 

Under the consuls, when they were not occupied 
in foreign warfare, their attention was engaged at 
home by the more dangerous evil of domestic strife* 
A struggle for power on the part of the patricians, 
and for independence on that of the plebeians, kept 

B 



q 



g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

Rome in an almost constant state of division and of 
agitation, which arose not so much from reciprocal 
animosity, as from the ill-conduct of men in place — 
from the ambitious designs of the consuls, and the 
seditious enterprises of the tribuhes. The interfer- 
ence of the senate was often employed to check these 
dissentions, and a timely relaxation of its authority 
sometimes prevented the excesses to which the peo- 
ple might otherwise have been hurried: but this con- 
descension was not unfrequently abused, and only 
palliated, without curing the evil. 

Rome, therefore, convulsed by turns, by internal 
discord, and foreign hostility, only enjoyed repose 
at intervals. This leisure was devoted to agriculture, 
in which all classes were then equally occupied; and 
the patrician and plebeian orders, so distinct in the 
city, were confounded, in the country, in the com- 
mon ivocationl of husbandry, 

T\\q first magistrates, and the greatest generals, 
were engaged in the labours of the field; and the 
same hand which directed the plough was often cho- 
sen to guide 'the helm of the state, or to wield the 
truncheon of its armies. History presents us with 
many such examples, not only during the infancy of 
the commonwealth, but even in those more flourish- 
ing times when the Romans, already masters of all 
Italy, had extended their empire beyond the seas. 
Quintus Cincinnatus, who was found at work in his 
field by those who went to announce to him his ap- 
pointment to the dictatorship, is not a singular in- 
stance. M. Curius, after having conquered the Sa- 
bines, and the Samnites, and after having driven 
Pyrrhus out of Italy, possessed only a small farm 
which he cultivated himself. Cato the Censor, struck 
with the simplicity of manners, and the elevation 
of mind, of its master, adopted him as his model; 
and applying himself to agriculture,-— on which he 
has left some treatises,— .did not disdain to work with 
his slaves, nor, when their toil was over, to partake 
of their coarse fare. And Scipio Africanus, after he 






INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. g 

had signalized himself by the defeat of the greatest 
of the Carthaginian generals,- — after having conquer- 
ed Hannibal, and rendered Carthage tributary to 
Rome, — retired to the cultivation of his garden. 

Far from considering themselves degraded by 
these rustic labours, the senators were almost con- 
stantly occupied in them; and the custom of residing 
on their estates was so general, that there was a regu- 
lar establishment of couriers,^ whose duty it was to 
summon them when any extraordinary business re- 
quired their attendance in the senate. This general 
attention to husbandry was then, indeed, as much the 
effect of necessity as choice: for the lands of the 
commonwealth having been divided in equal and very 
minute portions, among all its subjects, each was 
obliged to labour for his own subsistence; and a long 
time elapsed ere the introduction of commerce, and 
the consequent acquisition of wealth, enabled indi- 
viduals to purchase the estates of their fellow-citi- 
zens, and to obtain a revenue from the rent of land, 
rather than from its cultivation. 

Thus in the early, and the happiest, period of the 
republic, the Romans were all, except the lowest ar- 
tisans, at once agriculturists, and soldiers; and though 
for the most part residing always in the country, yet 
being all denizens of Rome they were considered as 
citizens, and were addressed under the common ap- 
pellation of §lirirites.j 

The greater number only visited the city on 
every ninth day: they went there to provide them- 
selves with those necessaries which were not to be 
procured in the country; to interchange commodities; 
and to examine the new laws which the magistrates 
caused to be posted on the capitol, and in the mar- 



*" Couriers" These were called Viatores, from their attend- 
ance on the senators requiring them to be almost constantly 
travelling- — Cicero de Senect. 16. 

f"Qwm7es." From Quirinus, the name given to Romulus af- 
ter he was ranked among the gods. 



^ DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

ket-place, during three such days consecutively, be- 
fore they were presented to the general assembly of 
the people for confirmation. 

It was on these market -days* that the tribunes 
tised to harangue the people on the affairs of govern- 
ment; and it was those harangues which fomented 
the misunderstanding between the patrician and ple- 
beian orders during the whole period of the republic. 
But notwithstanding the seditions which they excit- 
ed, more than three centuries elapsed after the de- 
position of the kings, before they occasioned blood 
to be spilled in Rome. Love of their country, and 
the conviction that the interests of both orders, how- 
ever apparently separate, were really united, and that 
the ruin of the one would entail destruction on the 
other, produced this happy effect; and the horrors of 
civil warfare were reserved for those times when 
riches and luxury had corrupted their morals, when 
the probity and the simplicity by which they had been 
distinguished were effaced, and their pristine attach- 
ment to their rustic homes and labours was superse- 
ded by new desires. Then, indeed, Roman armies, 
which had heretofore warred only upon strangers, 
were seen to contend against each other with more 
than the fury of foreign enemies, and Rome was de- 
luged w.ith the blood of her own citizens.* 

This change was the natural consequence of their 
aggrandizement. When, after the second Punic war, 
they had extended their conquests into Greece, Asia, 
and Syria, and when at length they had destroyed 
Carthage, then it was that, forgetting their ancient 
manners, they adopted those of the nations they had 
subdued, and became slaves to the vices of the very 
men who had submitted to their arms. 



*These "market-days were called JYundince, from their occur- 
ring on the ninth day; and the full term of "three such days** 
Trinundinum. Tit, Liv, 1. iii. c. 35. Dionys. 1. ii. c. 28. et. vi<; 

^Tit, Liv. vii. c. 40, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. g 

^ Invincible in toil, in danger, and in adversity, they 
yielded to the sweets of repose and prosperity: trom 
a people ace ustomed only to war, and the labours of 
the field, they be^pgne a nation enervated by volup- 
7 £buousnes*i *wd pStfindfulol their former gloffjrand 
/jpt^e meanS by whicfFf they had acquired it, thef^ave 
way to all the allurements of pleasure. * 4t Thtre 
I reigned over every action of life," — says a celebrat- 
ed historian, — u a refinement of sensuality which an- 
ticipated each natural want: heat and cold were di- 
vested of all their inconvenience; hunger and thirst 
were rather courted than satibfied; and sleep came, 
not so much the balmy restorer of exhausted nature^ 
as the precursor of new pleasures. 5,# In a mement, as 
it were, the face of every thing at Rome was chang- 
ed: professors appeared in arts which were before 
unknown; the magnificence of their buildings, the 
variety and splendor of their furniture, the costliness 
and elegance of their dress, and the delicacy of their 
tables, became a study as inviting as it was new, and 
was pursued with an ardor which exceeded all 
bounds. 

They then began to resign the toils of the farm, 
and the cares of the household; to their menials, and 
reserved to themselves those employments alone 
which were either agreeable, or considered honoura- 
ble. Hence arose that vast multitude of slaves, who 
were counted by thousands, and distinguished by 
nations. Forced during the day to cultivate the 
earth, loaded with fetters, and under the inspection 
of superintendents not the less rigid that they were. 



* Salt usi. Bell. Cat. c, 13. In another part, Sallast thus de- 
scribes the manners of the ancient times: "Morality reigned 
equally in the camp and in the city; and the empire of justice 
and virtue was less the effect of laws, than of natural principles: 
they used no other means to sustain themselves and the republic, 
than valour in war, and in peace, equity and moderation. Hell 
fJat. c 9. 

B-2 



~ B0MEST1C MANNERS ANI> 

not themselves free,* and fed only on bread and wa- 
ter, the farm slaves were/shut up at night in subter- 
raneous dungeons, into which light and air were on- 
ly admitted through an aperture in the roof.f Those 
emfHyed in the household duties were treated with 
more indulgence, and appear to have filled the vari- 
ous domestic offices of modern times, together with 
some that have fallen into- disuse.:):. But in whatever 
department they were placed, they were the absolute 
property of their masters; and the laws regarding 
them were enacted in a spirit of severity, which, 
however it may be palliated on grounds of policy, 
is not calculated to inspire an exalted idea of Roman 
humanity. This, however, applies more particular- 
ly to the ruder ages of the republic; and it must be 
admitted that, at a later period, their situation was 
much ameliorated. 

Some feeble attempts were made to repress the pro- 
gress of luxury, and manv sumptuary laws were 
pissed. Among these the Qppian Law, — enacted in 
the year of Rone 5 37, during the war with Hanni* 
bai, — prohibited ladies from wearing clothes of vari- 
ous colours, or more than half an ounce of gold in 
ornaments; and. forbade them the use of carriages in 
the city, or within the distance of a thousand paces 
around it, except on occasion of public solemnities. 
But this, with other restraints that had been imposed 

*It is a common remark in the West Indies, that negroes 
when entrusted with authority oyer their fellow slaves, are 
more severe than free persons. 

•\" Farm-slaves" For minute particulars of their treatment, 
see Flor. .1 iii. c. 19; Lucan 1. vii. 402; Columell 1. i c. F; Ptin. 
1. xviii. c, 3; et ib. c, 6. 

4" Domestic slaves." These were the Atriensis, Pedissequus, 
Agaso, Leciicarii, Coqitus, Cellarius, Cubic idavius, and Dispell 
sator; the house-porter, footman, groom, chairmen, cook, butler, 
yalet, and house steward: they had besides, the Tonsor, Un- 
guentariiis, Bahieator, Unctor, Chironoinontes, Pocillator, &c,; 
. the barber, (which office was sometimes filled by a female,) 
perfumer, bather, rubber and anointer, carver, cup-bearer, &£\ 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. w 

en the growing licentiousness of the times, was re- 
pealed about twenty years afterwards, when the bat- 
tle of Zama had dissipated tht tears to which they 
awed their enactment; notwithstanding the opposition 
of C to thr Censor, who forcibly represented to the 
senate the f^tal consequences which foreign innova- 
tions on their ancient customs might entail on the 
republic* 

Nor were the fears of Cato imaginary: all that he 
had predicted failed not to occur: luxury, which 
entered Rome 1 as if in triumph, together with the 
spoils of the conquered nations, stifled that love of 
virtue and of toil in which the honour of the Roman 
name and the strength of the republic had consisted. 
The domestic duties of well-ordered life guve way to 
irregularity and indolence, and the love of pleasure 
bore down every rule of moral conduct; poverty was 
considered as disgrace, and opulence became the only 
road to power and to fame; moderation and public 
spirit were supplanted by avarice and ambition; and 
patriotism made but a feeble stand against the over- 
whelming tide of corruption which ingulfed every 
honourable sentiment and generous feeling in its vor- 
tex. Statesmen, whose unambitious prudence had 
been the admiration of the universe, entered into 
competition for power, and for place, — not un fre- 
quently supporting their pretensions by open violence 5 
and when exhausted by excess of prodigality, they 
accepted of the government of distant provinces only 
to plunder them. Immense sums .were thus drawn 
from abroad to support their interest at Rome; and 
thev pillaged the allies, and even the subjects of the 

*Cato thus expressed himself when opposing 1 the repeal of the 
Oppian law, — ''Conscript Fathers, the republic is attacked by two 
opposite evils — avarice and luxury. The state becomes daily 
more flourishing"; already have our arms been carried into 
Greece and Asia, countries abounding with all that can arouse 
and stimulate the passions; and the spoils of kingdoms are ours: 
but it is this very opulence that alarms me, and I scarce know 
whether most to dread, that they should despoil us, or we theilfcf 
Tit. Liv. 1. xxxiv. c. 4, 



§ 



DOMESTIC MANNERS, &c. 



republic, the more easily to corrupt and enslave their 
fellow citiz ns. 

In vain did the oppressed people seek redress at 
R rne: the decision of suits depended on a multitude 
of juviges, who — themselves frequently implicated 
in similar crimrs — prostituted heir decision to favor, 
or to bribery, and arrested the course of justice. 
The laws, indeed, gave the people the right to com- 
pel restitution; but they were enforced only against 
petty depredators, and yielded, in important cases 5 
to power and corruption.^ 

The senate which trad formerly been the refuge of 
the unfortunate, and the asylum of the oppressed; 
and the magistrates and generals, whose glory was 
wont to consist in defending the provinces, and sus- 
taining the allies with inviolable justice and fidelity; 
from being their protectors became their tyrants. 

This corruption, which had its source among the 
rich and great, did not fail to infect the mass of the 
people. The simplicity of manners which had dis- 
tinguished the citizens, fled; and those hours which 
were formerly dedicated to some useful occupation, 
were now devoted to pleasure, and divided among 
the ceremonious duties of civilized society, and the 
indulgence of the passions. Thus their habits of 
life became gradually more refined, and more profli- 
gate; what they gained in polish they lost in worth; 
and at length, under the emperors, f the extinction 
of liberty, by destroying that self-respect which free- 
dom inspires, put the final seal to their depravity. 

* The first law against extortion was passed in the third Punic 
war, about the year 604 of the city: it was called the Calpurni- 
an la-w, from having been passed through the influence of 15. 
Calpurnius Piso Frugi, tribune of the people; and was followed 
by various others, severally known as the Ccecilian, Servilian, 
Altilian, Cornelian, and Julian laws. Cic. cle Offic. 1. ii. c. 21, 
tub Jin. 

f" Under the emperors." The usurpation of Augustus, from 
which period the reign of the emperors is dated, took place in 
the 723d year of Rome — according to the general received chron- 
®l°gy — ancl thirty years before the birth of Christ, 



9 



CHAP. II. 



Classification of the Roman Citizens. -—Tribes. — Curias. 
— Patrician, Equestrian, and Plebeian Orders.— 
Slaves. — Freedmen.— Senators and Senate. — Consids* 
—Praetors. — -Censors. — Tribunes of the People.*— 
Curule Magistracy. — Lictors. 

The citizens of Rome were anciently divided into 
three Tribes, and each tribe into ten Curiae; but the 
number of tribes was afterwards augmented to thirty- 
five, and they were separately classed, in order to 
distinguish between the actual residents in the city, 
and those subjects of the commonwealth, who, al- 
though possessing the right of citizenship, lived 
wholly out of town. Each tribe furnished 1000 foot, 
and 100 horse, for the army; and the collective force 
of 3000 infantry and 300 cavalry was termed a 
Legion: this quota was afterwards very considerably 
augmented. The original tribes were severally dis- 
tinguished by the names of Ramnenses^ Tatienses y 
and Luceres; those subsequently added were all 
styled Post erio res. 

The people were originally separated into two ranks 
. — the patrician and plebeian:- — in after times the or- 
der of Equites, or knights, was added; and the sub- 
jugation of foreign countries, combine d with motives 
of internal policy, introduced slavery: th<* population 
was therefore composed of four classes — Patricians^ 
Knights. Plebeians, and Slaves. 

The Patrician, as the first order in the state, con- 
sisted of the m ;st eminent citizens; and those fam- 
ilies were deemed patrician, whose ancestors had 
been members of the senate in the earliest period of 
the regal, or consular government. Those among 



|0 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

them who had filled any superior office were con- 
sidered noble, and possessed the right of making 
images of themselves, which were transmitted to 
their descendants, and formed part of their domes- 
tic worship. This right, in the Roman law termed 
Jus Irnaginis, may be compared to that of our ar- 
morial bearings; only that among the Romans, it was 
a distinction confined to rank, and could not be as- 
sumed by those who were not regularly entitled to it. 
Persons not belonging to this order, but who had 
been admitted to the curule-magistracy, acquired 
the right of having images of themselves; but were, 
nevertheless, termed new men, or upstarts; while 
those who did not possess it were deemed igno- 
ble. 

The Equestrian order arose out of an institution 
of Romulus, who selected one hundred young men 
from each of the tribes, to serve on horseback, as his 
personal guard. They were at that period, divided 
into three Centuries, each distinguished by the name 
of its respective tribe; but the number was increased 
by successive kings, and in process of time became 
unlimited; and although they continue to be subject to 
military service, they ceased to be exclusively devot* 
ed to it, and were employed in various civil depart- 
ments of the state, but especially in the collection of 
the revenue. 

It has not been clearly ascertained at what period 
the equites became a distinct order, but it seems 
probable that they were so considered before the ex- 
pulsion of the kings. They were at first supported 
at the public expense, and a tax was imposed on 
widows for the maintenance of their horses, but 
when they no longer formed a separate military corps, 
their services were not thus recompensed, and they 
merely received from the public a horse and a gold 
ring. They were chosen indiscriminately, from the 
patrician and plebeian orders; and, indeed, towards 
the close of the republic, every Roman citizen pos- 
sessed of a fortune of 400 sestertia, or about 32304 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 - 

sterlings was entitled to be enrolled among the 
knights.^ The order, therefore, did not resemble 
that of modern knighthood; and became in fact, 
finally, nothing more than a distinction arising from 
the amount of property, and constituting a middle 
rank in the state, somewhat analogous to our Eng- 
lish gentry. 

The Plebeian order was composed of the lowest 
class of freemen. Those who resided in the coun- 
try were styled Plebs rustica; those who lived in the 
city, Plebs urbana: but the distinction did not con- 
sist in the name alone, and the former were consid- 
ered as the most respectable. The plebs urbana con- 
sisted not only of the poorer mechanics and labour- 
ers, but of a multitude of idlers, who lived on the 
public bounty,! and whose turbulence was a con- 
stant source of disquietude to the government. 
I They were under the guidance of leaders of their 
own class, who were in the pay of factious men of 
rank, and they appear to have borne a strong re- 
semblance to that portion of the present population of 
1 Naples termed Lnzzarcmi. The exercise of the me- 
I chanical arts being looked upon at Rome, as servile 



*Tit. Liv.X. i. c. 30, 35, et 43; 1. ii. c. 1; et 1. v. c, 7\ Plin. 
Epist. 1. i. ep. 19. 

Y* Public bounty." This consisted in a donation of corn, 
which was distributed monthly to necessitous citizens: the 
quantity is not certain: some authors have asserted that it 
amounted to five bushels per man, but it more probably was on- 
ly five pecks, which was the allowance usually made to slaves; 
and this supposition gains strength from the contempt with 
which not only its acceptance, but its value, are mentioned by 
the classic" authors. It was delivered to the bearers of trans- 
ferable tickets, in allusion to which Juvenal says: — 

"A vile corn-ticket be his fate at last." 

Sat.^v'n. 

And Persius: — 

"Each Publius, with his tally, may obtain 
A casual dole of coarse and damaged grain." 

Gifford, sat. V: 



£g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

employments beneath the dignity of freemen, there 
was but little scope for industry: nurtured, therefore, 
in idleness and beggary, they were needy and unprin- 
cipled; while the constant exhibition of public spec- 
tacles, and the combats of gladiators, gave them 
habits of licentiousness not unmixed with ferocity. 
Thus, the absence of moral restraint, combined with 
a sense of their own importance as members of the 
commonwealth, renderrd them willing assistants in 
the most audacious conspiracies against the govern- 
ment; and their unbridled licence has been justly 
considered as one of the leading causes of the over- 
throw of the republic, and the extinction of liberty. 
But this only applies to the lowest class of the ple- 
beians; many of the most estimable citizens were to 
be found in that order; and several rose from it to 
the chief offices, and the first dignities of the state. 

Slaves were not entitled to any of the privileges of 
freemen; and, although forming a large portion of 
the community, they were not considered as citizens. 
They, in fact, possessed no political rights; were, 
by law, rendered incapable of acquiring property, or 
of giving evidence in a court of justice; and were 
viewed in no other light than as part of the chattel 
possessions of their masters. 

Persons were reduced to that unfortunate condi- 
tion either .through the chances of war, or the com- 
mission of crime; by sale; from bankruptcy; or in 
consequence of being born in a state of servitude. 
Those enemies who surrendered voluntarily retained 
their freedom; but those taken in arms belonged to the* 
captors, and were usually sold in the field of battle. 
Free citizens could not legally dispose of themselves 
as slaves; but fathers were allowed to sell their chil- 
dren; insolvent debtors were given up to their cred- 
itors until their debts were satisfied; various offences 
were punishable by slavery; and the children of fe- 
male slaves became the property of their masters, 
notwithstanding the father being a freeman. 






INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



13 



There was a constant market for slaves at Rome, 
afld regular dealers in the trade of selling them. 
They were usually exposed to sale in a state of nu- 
dity, with a Libel on the neck descriptive of their 
qualities, and seem to have been transferred in much 
the same manner as cattle. 

Prisoners of war were disposed of by public auc- 
tion, which was notified J^Jfca spear being set up at 
the place of sale. We have no certain account of 
the usual price of slaves; and as their value must 
have depended on their personal qualifications, par- 
ticular instances cannot be assumed as data on which 
to found an opinion. We are told, that captives 
were sold in the camp of the celebrated Lucullus, 
towards the close of the republic, for less than three 
shillings of our money; and Gibbon alludes to that 
fact as a proof of the little estimation in which th'ey 
1 were held: but it is obvious, that it must have arisen 
from circumstances, independent of their general 
worth, and we know that slaves, who had been in- 
structed in the arts, were often sold for large 

Masters possessed absolute powervover their slaves: 
they might not only scourge, but even put them to. 
death, at pleasure; and this right was actually exer- 
cised with such cruelty, that it. became necessary to 
pass various laws to restrain it. Still, however, the 
legislature looked upon them with a jealous eye; and 
the enactments respecting them indicate great mis- 
trust, as well as harshness. One of these provided, 
that, if the master of a famiiy was slain at his own 
house, and the murderers were not discovered, all 
his'domestic slaves were liable to be put to death; 
and Tacitus records an instance of four hundred 
having suffered in consequence, in one family: other 
^statutes breathed a similar spirit, and the torture was 



* 



See Gibbon's decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. i. 
c. 2, and notes passim. 



£4* DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

established by law.^ When slaves were punished 
capitally, they were usually crucified, until the reign 
of the Emperor Constantine the Great, when this 
mode of execution was abolished. 

Notwithstanding the rigor of the laws with regard to 
slaves, and the general severity of their treatment, in- 
stances were not wanting in which the hardship of 
their lot was mitigated bj&jfce kindness of their mas- 
ters; and it must be admitted, that many opportu- 
nities for emancipating themselves were afforded to 
those among them who were prudent and industri- 
ous. The law, it is true, declared them incapable 
of acquiring property in their own right; and con- 
sequently, of making a will: all they might possess be- 
longed to the master: but this was not always enforced; 
an4,-on the contrary, it became customary to give them 
a certain allowance, either in money or in grain, for 
their maintenance, out of which they frequently saved 
sufficient to purchase their freedom. They were even 
permitted to possess slaves themselves; and Cicero 
tells us, that those who were sober, and well-con- 
ducted, seldom remained many years in bondage. f 
The prejudice enfertained by the free citizens against 
handicraft trades was greatly in favor of the slaves, 
as intended to throw those branches of industry into 
their hands, and gave them advantages of which they 
knew so well how to avail themselves, that many of 
them, when liberated, amassed considerable wealth. 



* Tacit. Ann. 1. xiv. c. 43. PUn. Epist. 1. viii. ep. 14. 

^.Cicero, Phil. viii. 2. An instance of the indulgence of al- 
lowing slaves to dispose of their property by will, is recorded. 
hy the younger Piiny. Speaking of the recent death of some of 
his slaves, he says: — I have allowed them to make a kind of will* 
which I observe as religiously as if they were entitled. to that 
privilege. I receive and obey their requests, as so many abso- 
lute commands, suffering them to dispose of their effects to 
Whom they please; with this single restriction, that they leave 
them to some of the family; which, to persons in their station ? 
is to be considered as a sort of commonwealth." Melmottis 
Pliny, b. viii. ep. 16. 



INSTITUTIONS OF. THE ROMANS. 45 

Some, who displayed early talents, received an edu- 
cation which fitted them for literary employments, in 
which they seldom failed to obtain their freedom; 
and many were gratuitously emancipated as a reward 
for their services. The farm-slaves, however, but 
seldom participated in these favors: the nature of 
their employment deprived them of the opportuni- 
ties, enjoyed by those engaged in the more domestic 
duties, for rendering such services to their masters 
as would be most likely to excite their benevolence; 
and their vast number was an insurmountable impe- 
diment: some rich individuals are said to- have pos- 
sessed many thousands, and the legislature did not 
permit che' emancipation of more than one hundred 
by one master. 

When slaves were manumitted, their heads were 
shaved, and ttey received a cap as a badge of liber- 
ty, of which it has since become the emblem. They 
were also presented by their master with a white 
robe, and an iron ring, and then assumed his name, 
which they prefixed to their own, and were ever af- 
ter called the freedmen.^ Nor did the connexion 
between them and their former master entirely cease: 
they remained in a certain state of dependence on 
him, and, though no longer his slaves, became his 



*A custom was observed on the manumission of slaves pre- 
cisely similar to one of the ceremonies of the game of blind?nan'$- 
buif! — The master or lictor, turning' him round in a circle, and 
giving him a blow on the cheek, let him go, signifying that he 
was thenceforward free;— 

"See there that Dama! view a worthless slave, 

Of knavish muleteers the veriest knave! 

Let but his master one small turn bestow, 

Plain Dama, straight, shall Marcus Dama grow." 

Owens Per sins, sat. y. 
The coincidence, coupled with the analogy between the condi- 
tion of the slave, and the supposed one of the person bound 
in the game, woidd lead u to conclude that this *<sport of 
our youth" is entitled to the dignity of a Roman origin. 



16 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



clients: were he reduced to poverty, they were bound 
to contribute to his support; if they died intestate, 
he succeeded to their property; and any flagrant act 
of ingratitude to him was punished, as it merited, by 
their being degraded "to their former condition.^ 

The senate was the great council of the empire. 
The senators were originally chosen from among the 
patricians, and their number was then confined to 
one hundred; but it was afterwards gradually extend- 
ed to a thousand, and the knights and plebeians 
were indiscriminately admitted. They were at first 
called Patres, as a title of the higheSt veneration 
and respect, and their offspring Patricii; whence the 
term Patrician: those who were added to the original 
number were styled Conscripti, signifying that they 
were enrolled together with the Paires, and thence 
the title of ^Conscript Fathers," by which it became 
usual to address them collectively. In the time of 
the later emperors, they individually acquired the 
distinction of "most illustrious. "' Augustus finally 
limited their number to six hundred. 

The senators were anciently nominated by the 
kings, and, after their expulsion, by the consuls and 
military tribunes; but from the year of Rome 310, 
this great power became the privilege of the censors. 
Although persons of the plebeian order were eligible 
to the senate, yet no one could obtain that dignity 
who had been engaged in a mean occupation, or 
whose father had been a slave; and, in the reign of 
Augustus, a fortune equal to about 10,000/. sterling 
was a necessary qualification. The senators were 
not all chosen by election: certain offices in the ma- 
gistracy, and some military services, gave a title to 
admission; and the dignity was also conferred on 



*By a law passed in the year of the city 7*61, if a freedman 
died worth 100,000 sesterces, -or about 800^. sterling, leaving 
only one child, his former master became entitled to one half; 
if he left two, to one-third; but if more, he was excluded 
This was altered by Justinian. Imtit. 1. iii. tit. 8* 



INSTITrTTONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 y 

some honorary members, who seem to have paid a 
sum of money to the public treasury on taking their 
fceat; but to what amount is uncertain; nor does it 
clearly appear whether as the price of the privilege, 
or merely as a fee on admissi n; but it probably was 
only a fee, as the younger Piiny distinctly mentions 
it as having been paid under that head, and in amount 
not exceeding 60/. in some of the provincial senates.* 
It is supposed, and with every appearance of cor- 
rectness, that candidates were not eligible until they 
had attained their thirtieth year; but this is merely * 
inferred from other analogous regulations, as history- 
contains no positive information on the subject. The 
members coulrl not be compelled to attend alter sixty 
years of age.f 

The senate was reviewed by the censors every 
Lustrum or fifth year; and if any member had ren- 
dered himself unworthy of that high rank by His con- 
duct, or had sunk his fortune below the sum requir- 
ed by law, his nalne was omitted in reading the roll, 
and he was thus excluded. But if mere want of 
property occasioned his exclusion, he mightregain 
his seat on' the re -establishment of his affairs: and an 
appointment to certain offices in the state, might re- 
store him, even when the cause of expulsion Was 
more serious. A remarkable instance in point oc- 
curred in the person of the celebrated historian Sal- 
lust, who was expelled the senate for being engaged 
in an intrigue with a married lady, but recovered his 
senatorial rank on being made praetor. He was after- 
wards appointed governor of Numidia, where his 
conduct was so little in unison with his writings, that 
he acquired a large fortune by rapacity and extor- 
tion. 

The ordinary assemblies of the senate were regu- 
larly held on the Kalends and the Ides— the first and 
thirteenth days of each month—ine extraordinary 



*JPUn, Epipt. 1. x. ep. 113. 

■fPlin, Epist. I. iv. ep, 23. 



18 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AKD 



meetings, whenever important business rendered 
them necessary;, and members who neglected t< at- 
tend on these occasions were subject to a fine. Each 
sitting was presided over by some person ol high 
rank in the civil service oi the government; but the 
office of president was not permanent, nor does it 
distinctly appear in what manner it was conferred. 
In most other respects, the mode of debating, voting, 
ani passing decrees, in the senate, appears to have 
borne a strong similtude to the proceedings in the 
British House of Commons; and even the custom of 
coughing-down a prosing speaker was not unknown 
to that august assembly. 

Oa the introduction of the republican form of 
government, in the third century of Rome, two 
Consuls were appointed, who were invested with 
power little short of regal authority, and were sur- 
rounded with the same state and dignity as the an- 
cient kings. During peace they were the supreme 
heads of the civil administration, a»d in time of war 
they commanded the armies of the commonwealth. 
But they, in common with all other magistrates, 
only remained one year in office, and were after- 
wards amenable for any abuse of their power to the 
tribunal of a general assembly of the people; by a 
majority of whose suffrages they were also electedo 
They were, at first, chosen exclusively from the 
patricians;, but the plebrians were afterwards admit- 
ted; and, at a later period, it was ordained, that one 
of the two consuls should always belong to that or- 
der. The consular office retained all its powers un- 
til the overthrow of the republic by Julius Caesar in 
the commencement 'of 'the eighth century: it was 
then stripped of ail real authority,* and its duties 
were confined to convening the senate, and proposing 
laws for their consideration, .with the superinten- 
dence of some inferior departments of the govern- 
ment. But the consuls still retained the semblance 
of rank; and even under the emperors they were at- 
tended with all the pomp of their ancient dignity,. 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS, 



19 



until the abolition ot the office, in the year 1293 of 
tij: Roman iEra. 

Tht magistrates next in rank to the consuls were 
styled Praetors* — Their duty consisted in supt rin- 
tending the administration of justice;, and they were, 
in tact, the chief judges in ail causes that did not 
fall under the immediate cognizance of the assem- 
blies ot the people, or of the senate. Their number 
varied: at oiff rent periods; but for a long time con- 
sisted oi six; two for the city, and four for the pro- 
vinces. The office, like every other under the re- 
public, was elective; but notwithstanding that its du- 
ties demanded an intimate acquaintance with the 
laws, it does not appear that a reputation for extra- 
ordinary leg 1 knowledge, or even anv previous prac- 
tice in the courts, were deemed indispensable quali- 
fications. 

The Censors were at first appointed solely to keep; 
a register of the number and tortums ol the people,, 
to class them in their respective rank, and to inspect 
into their private conduct. We have already seen 
•how far their power extended over the senate in the 
performance of the latter part of their dutv; and it 
was equally unlimited over every individual of the 
community 

• An enumeration of the whole population of Rome 
was made every filth year, in a spacious enclosure, 
called the field of Mars, where the people were pass-, 
ed in review, and gave an account of their fortune, 
families and occupations. On this occasion it was 
that the censors exercised the extraordinary pow- 
ers with which they were entrusted; not onlv ani- 
madverting on those who appeared to merit reproof,, 
but, if their conduct deserved greater severity, de- 
priving them, if knights, of their public horses, or 
if persons in a private station, oi their privileges as 
Roman citizens. A similar review took place, every 
lustrum, in every other part of the empire, unde£ 
the inspection of provincial censors. 



mQ DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

However inquisitorial, and inconsistent with the 
spirit of freedom, such a tribunal may appear, it 
mast yet be acknowledged that, in a political point 
of view, it must have been of the most essential 
importance to the government, as affording a clear 
view of the resources of the state; while, morally 
considered, it must h aye operated as a powerful 
eheck on public depravity and private vice. But tne 
dissolute manners of the times, under the emperors, 
could not long support so strict, an investigation, 
and the office was gradually abolished: the last census 
of the Roman people was made in the year ot the 
city 827; but the duties, and even the title, of cen- 
sor, had then long ceased to exist. It was a situa- 
tion of great power, as well as dignity: for, besides 
the vast influence which the uncontrolled exercise 
of such authority as that already mentioned must 
have in itself afforded, the censors had the manage- 
ment of the revenue; and, contrarv to the usual cus- 
tom, they remained five years in office. 

Though not so high in point of rank as the pre- 
ceding magistrates, those who possessed the largest 
share of influence, and real weight in the common- 
wealth, were the Tribunes of the people. They 
were appointed, soon after the establishment of the 
republic, to guard the plebeians against the oppres- 
sion of the patrician; and were always elected from 
the plbeian order. Their power, indeed, would 
seem to have been merely preventive; for it was con- 
fined, by law, to the prohibition of such enactments* 
as appeared to trench on the rights and liberties of 
the people, and thir jurisdiction only extended over 
the citv. Rut the defence of those rights afforded 
a plausible pretext, of which they were not slow in 
availing themselves, to control the imposition of tax- 
es, the levying of troops, and, in short, every oper- 
ation of the government. They wire ten in number, 
their persons were sacred, and by the single word 
Veto they could put a negative on any decree of the 
senate^ and & stop to the proceedings of all other 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. g£ 

magistrates. It was through their persevering exer- 
tions that their own order was admitted to a partici- 
pation in public employments; but the influence 
which they at first employed to curb the power of 
the nobility they afterwards used for their own ag- 
grandizement, and they often joined in the exercise 
of that very tyranny which it was their chief duty 
to oppose. While the republic subsisted, their pow- 
er contributed to preserve the balance of the consti- 
tution; but its exercise was incompatible with a mon- 
archical form of government; and, accordingly, when 
Augustus usurped the sovereignty, he was created 
tribune for life, and arrogated to himself all the real 
authority of the office; while to his colleagues, who 
continued, as formerly, to be annually elected, he 
left nothing but its rank, and minor duties. 

The high, but casual, office of dictator, and those 
of the decemvirate and triumvirate, belong rather to 
the page, of history than to this desultory composi- 
tion; and an account of the various inferior offices 
of the state would extend it beyond the limits to 
which it is confined. 

The Cur ule- Magistracy, to which allusion has 
been already made, was so termed from the seat 
which the chief magistrates occupied, on public oc- 
casion, being called a curtile chair* This was a stool 
without a back, similar to iur folding chair, and 
could be doubled together for the convenience of 
carriage: which was the more necessary as it accom- 
panied the magistrate wherever he went. The seat 
was merely a piece of leather: hut the frame was of 
carved ivory, or, at least, richly inlaid with it, and 
the feet were moulded at the 'extremities sb as to re- 
semble those of some animal. 

The consuls, and all the chief magistrates, exrept the 
censors and the tribunes of the people, were preced- 
ed in public, by a c rtain number, according to their 
rank, ot ofikers of just w*v called Lictors\ euh bear- 
ing on his shoulder, as the insignia oi office, the^s- 



#g DOMESTIC MANNERS, Sec. 

ces and securis, which were a bundle of rods with an 
axe in the centre of one end. But the lictors in at- 
tendance on an inferior magistrate carried the fasces 
only, without the axe, to denote that he was not pos- 
sessed of the power of capital punishment.^ 



*For minute particulars of the institution of the senate, its 
privileges, power, forms, and degrees, and respecting all the 
offices of the state, — see Kennefs Antiquities, and Roman AntU 
qnities, by Br. 'Alexander Adam. 



§s 



CHAP- III. 



Patrons and their Clients.— The Bar. — Fees. — Courts. 
— Orations. — Jiudierice. — Time of Pleading. — Tribu- 
nals. — Mode of Trial. — Centumviral Court, — Juris- 
prudence. — Laws of the Twelve Tables. — Justinian 
Code, Pandects, and Institutes. — Theodocian Code. 

With a view to render the patrician and plebeian 
orders in some measure dependent on each other, 
and thus to cement their union for the common inter- 
est, it was decreed by Romulus, that each plebeian 

i should choose a patrician for his Patron, of whom 
he was then said to be the Client. The duty of the 
patron consisted in protecting his clients from op- 
pression, in pleading their causes before the tribunals, 

i and generally, in promoting their welfare: that of the 
clients, in rendering him such services, both person- 
al and pecuniar}, as might be in their power; but 
chiefly in aiding him with their votes and interest 
when he became a candidate for any public employ- 
ment. This connexion, once established, usually 
became hereditary; and being sanctioned by law, 

i and strengthened by the attachment arising from long 

i habit, and a sense of mutual advantage, was very 
rarely dissolved:* it was indeed regarded in so sa- 



*" Patrons" When the republic had attained extended em- 
pire, cities and whole provinces chose patrons at Rome, who 
attended to their interests in the senate, and whose services 
were requited with presents of great value. In the war against 
Antony, when all Italy had espoused the cause of Octavius, the 
city of Bologna alone demanded and obtained: permission to re- 
main neuter, in consequence of its having been under the pro- 
tection of the family of Antony. 



g^ DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

cred a light, that neither party was allowed to give 
evidenge against the other; and whoever transgress- 
ed in this particular was considered to have forfeited 
the protection of the laws, and might be slain with 
impunity. This union continued undisturbed until 
the introduction of luxury changed in some degree 
its original principle: the distinction of ranks, and 
their relative duties, indeed, still remained-; but the 
vast wealth and influence acquired by some of the. 
patricians attached multitudes of interested clients 
to them, among whom many of their own order did 
not blush to enrol themselves; and what was former- 
ly the cordial intercourse of reciprocal setvices, be- 
came that of sordid flattery and haughty superior- 

The bar was so distinguished as a profession, that 
many Romans of the highest rank acted as pleaders, 
and consecrated their talents to the gratuitous ser- 
vice of their fellow citizens. This custom was as old 
as the. time of Romulus, who imposed the defence 
of his clients upon the patron, without allowing him 
to accept of any remuneration that could be consid- 
ered as a fee. But this apparent liberality of the 
patrons was not altogether disinterested: it was, in 
fact, the instrument of their ambition; for employ- 
ments in the state being conferred, during the repub- 
lic, by general suffrage, the clients repaid with their 
votes the obligation they had incurred. This first 
received a check by the introduction of the ballot; 
and as votes could be no longer depended upon, it, 
in process of time, became customary for clients to 
make an annual present to their patron The body of the 
people having thus hecome tributary to the senate, a 
law was passed, about the year 594 of the city, which 
prohibited senators from receiving any present what- 
ever from their clients, and particularly, any kind 
of remuneration for acting as counsel in a court of 
justice. 

At length, when the emperors deprived the peo- 
ple of the right of electing their own magistrates, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



25 



the chief motive which actuated patrons in the gratu- 
itous exertion of their abilities ceased; and their for- 
mer clients being thus deprived of legal advice, the 
practice of the law necessarily became mercenary, 
and was thenceforward followed as a profession for 
profit. The mere lawyers, however, placed so high 
a value on their assistance, that it became necessary 
to fix bounds to their rapacity: and they were not 
allowed to accept of more than certain specified fees, 
under penalty of being considered guilty of extortion, 
which subjected them to a forfeiture of four times 
the amount. The maximum of these fees was at 
first fixed at 10,000 sesterces, about 80/* sterling. 
But this wholesome regulation was evaded: a swarm 
of venal petti-foggers,. — the pests of society, — fo- 
mented law-suits for their private advantage, and 
carried their depredations on the public so far, that 
they attracted the notice of the senate; and in the 
reign of Trajan, a decree was passed obliging the 
parties in every cause to make oath, before it was 
tried, that they had neither given nor promised any 
gratification to their advocates; permitting them how- 
ever to remunerate them after judgment was obtain- 
ed. This edict was not intended to deprive the law- 
yers of the just fruits of their labours, but was a ne- 
cessary check on the mercenary cupidity of knaves, 
whose exactions brought disgrace on an otherwise 
honorable profession. It did not prevent barristers 
of eminence from accumulating very large fortunes: 
the younger Pliny mentions one Reguius, who, not- 
withstanding he lived in great splendor, and was not, 
it would seem, much indebted to the goodness of 
his character, realized a sum equivalent to four 
hundred thousand pounds of our money. * Nor, if 



* i 'Regirfu$." Some curious anecdotes of this person are to be 
i found in Pliny's Letters, B. i. ep. 5; ii. 20; and iv. 2. 

D 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

the accusation of Persius be not unbounded, were 
they very delicate in the mode of acquisition; — 



-"envy not the sordid gains, 



Which recompense the well-tongued lawyer's pains; 
•Though Umbrian rusticks, for his sage advice, 
Pour in their jars of fish, and oil, and spice. 
So thick and fast, that, ere the first be o'er, 
A second and a third are at the door." 

Giffbrd, sat. iii. 

The numerous retainers of the patrician pleaders, 
—some of whom continued, notwithstanding the 
general venality of the bar, to defend their clients 
without any other reward than the consciousness of 
doing good, and the pleasure of rendering service — 
together with the curiosity of the idle, usually occa- 
sioned the courts to be thronged with auditors, who 
canvassed the decisions of the judges with great free- 
dom. On occasions of public interest — as, when a 
magistrate was accused of malversation, of having 
trenched upon the liberty of his fellow citizens,' or 
of having abused his power, — the great square of 
the forum, where the halls of justice were situated, 
scarcely sufficed to contain the multitude. Each cit- 
izen, looking upon himself as a member of the same 
great family, was zealous in support of the common 
rights, scrutinized with jealous watchfulness into 
the conduct of their rulers, and looked with anxious 
solicitude to the issue of the cause; while on the 
other hand, the friends and kindred of the accused, 
no less interested in procuring his acquittal, attend- 
ed in deep mourning, to second the efforts of his ad- 
vocates by their solicitations in his behalf. 

The harangues delivered on such occasions were 
prepared with the most studious care, and became 
the object of compliment and congratulation "to those 
who delivered them. Those which have been pre- 
served are models of perspicuity, force, and elegance; 
and the evidence of contemporary authors shows, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gy 

that forensic eloquence was not confined to those with 
whose orations we are acquainted. 

The auditory were accustomed to applaud any par- 
ticularly striking passage; and young barristers, emu- 
lus of similar approbation, used to hire an audience for 
the purpose: but the fellows of whom it was com- 
posed, seldom comprehending where to bestow their 
commendations, and sometimes mistaking the con- 
certed signal, were often loudest in their acclamations 
when they were least deserved; and Pliny shrewdly 
remarks, that the worst speakers were usually hailed 
with the warmest plaudits. 1 * 

Whether from excess of business in the courts, 
or of prolixity in the pleaders, the judges found it 
expedient to limit the speeches of counsel to a given 
time, which they fixed, at their pleasure, before the 
cause was opened. To us it must appear equally 
presumptuous and unjust to set bounds to the exami- 
nation to a question ere its full extent had been as- 
certained, and even in Rome the custom was censur- 
ed; yet such was the invariable practice; and as the 
indulgence of the court extended the time whenever 
it was particularly required, it does not appear to 
have occasioned any flagrant injustice. 

There were various tribunals for the trial of civil 
and criminal actions, and a court of equity for the 
decision of causes that were not restricted by any 
fixed law. Trial by jury, as established with us, was 
not known; but the mode of judging in criminal cases 
seems to have nearly approached it. A certain num- 
ber of senators and knights, or other citizens of high 
consideration, were annually chosen by the praetor 
to act as his assessors; and of these, some, but how 
manv does not appear, were appointed to sit in judg- 
ment along with him. They decided by a majority 
of voices, and returned their verdict either guilty, 
not guilty, or uncertain; in which latter instance 
the cause was deferred: bu' if the votes for acquittal 
an J condemnation were equal, the culprit was dis- 

* PUri. Epist. 1. ii. ep. 14. 



38 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



charged; or, according to some authors, his fate was 
then decided by the praetor. There were also judges, 
called Centumviri, to the number, at first, 100, and af- 
terwards of 180, who where chosen equally from the 
thirty-five tribes; and from among these the parties 
mutually, or, if they could not agree, the prsetor, 
chose one, or more, to whom the cause was referred. 
In cases of great importance, one fourth, and some- 
times the whole body of the centumviral court satin 
judgment, presided by the praetor. But no Roman 
citizen could be capitally punished except with the 
consent of the general assembly of the people: and 
corruption in a judge was punishable with death. * 

Both the cursory nature, and the object of this 
brief essay, seem to preclude the extensive subject 
of jurisprudence; yet, having taken this summary 
notice of the bar, an equally concise account of the 
rise and progress of the Roman law may be expected, 
and cannot prove wholly uninteresting. 

The ancient laws were generally the result of mo- 
mentary emergency, and were in most cases inappli- 
cable to future circumstances. Those of Romulus, and 
the other early legislators, were rather intended to 
restrain the violence of men in a semi barbarous state, 
than to regulate the clashing interests, and control 
the passions, of a civilized people. Those of the 
subsequent kings, had chiefly for their object the 
maintenance of monarchical authority, and were ill 
calculated to the republican form of government which 
followed; yet, the patricians contrived to retain those 
which favoured their own order, and their own in- 
fluence procured the enactment of others which prom- 
ised to secure to them the possession of arbitrary pow- 
er. But the unanimous voice of the people called 

*The "Centumviral Court" was one of the highest judicature; 
but in latter times their jurisdiction appears to have been con- 
fined to cases of wills and inheritances. The centum viri only 
remained in office twelve months. 

The capital punishment to which the laws of the twelve tables 
subjected corrupt judges, was afterwards commuted into a fine, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



29 



for some fixed and more appropriate code; and in 
the year ot Rome 299, ambassadors were sent to 
Greece to collect the laws of that wise and polished 
people. At their return, these were embodied with 
some of those previously in force among the Romans 
themselves, and engraved on twelve tablets of brass, 
whence they were called c the laws of the twtlve ta- 
bits?"** However, in the lapse of successive ages 
such a variety of new statutes were added, that they 
became intricate and obscure; and, though some in- 
effectual efforts were made to reform them, it was 
not until the reign of the emperor Justinian, in the 
early part of the sixth century of the Christian sera, 
that they were classed, and reduced into a form which 
obtained the name of the Justinian Code: but this being 
found defective, it was revised, and republished about 
six years afterwards. A digest of these laws was 
comprised in fifty books, termed Pandects; and the 
elements of Roman law were at the same time com- 
posed and published under the title of Institutes. 

A similar attempt had been previously made by 
the Emperor Theodosius, but the collection of laws 
published under his authority, and known as the 
Theodosian Code^ contained only the imperial con- 
stitutions for little more than the previous century. 

The Roman code appears to have been founded 
on a comprehensive view of the laws of nature adapted 
to a state of civilized society, and applicable alike 
to all times and governments: hence it survived the 
barbarism of the middle ages, and became the uni- 
i versa! law of Europe; and though it has been super- 
ceded in many instances by municipal regulation, 
and in our own country bv what is termed the com- 
,mon la , it yet serves as the basis of the great struc- 
ture of the law of nations, and is still acknowledged 
iin our courts of civil judicature. 



* The "Twelve Tables" were preserved in the temple of Jupiter 
Capitolinus. Nothing now remains but some scattered fragments 
of the laws engraved on them, which have been collected from 
various authors. 

D-2 



30 



CHAPTER IV. 



State of Rome until the time of Nero, — Subsequent Im- 
provements — Nero's Palace. — Town houses — House- 
hold Gods.— The Capitol. — The Forum, — Pillars of 
Trajan and Jiutonmus — Police and Population oj the 
City. — Hospitals. — Medical Practice. — Orphans. — 
Money. -^Private Wealth. 

The information which has been collected respect- 
ing the interior arrangement and general appearance 
of the houses in Rome, is extremely scanty and un- 
satisfactory; and even the recent excavations at 
Herculaneum and Pompeii have added but little to 
what was previously known on the subject.* 

* "Herculaneum" was accidently discovered in 1689, by a 
peasant, on digging a well, at the depth of 70 feet from the 
surface of the earth. In consequence of the great expense at- 
tending the removal of the vast superincumbent mass, out little 
of the town has been explored, and the researches kave been 
discontinued for some time past. 

"Pnmpeii" was discovered at only a few feet below the surface; 
and the consequent facility of exploring its ruins, has enabled 
the workmen to lay open several of the streets. A distinguished 
traveller, the Rev. Mr. Eustace, thus describes its appearance 
within these few years. "The street which runs from the neigh- 
bourhood of the soldiers' quarters (at the entrance of the town) 
is only about 13 feet wide, formed like the Via Appia at Itri, 
and other places where it remains entire, of large stones fitted 
to each other in their original form, without being cut or broken 
for the purpose. There are on each side parapets raised about 
two feet above the middle, and about three feet wide. The 
pavement is furrowed by two deep ruts, which shows, evidently, 
that the carriages always kept the same line, and that the wheels 



DOMESTIC MANNERS &c. 



31 



The city is supposed to have been little else than 
a confused assemblage of thatched cottages, previous 

were abvmt 4 feet asunder: of course they must have all moved 
in the same direction, and had regular hours fv>r coming and 
going, as there is noi room for two; and even if there were, the 
stone posts, wh;ch are placed at intervals, would oblige them 
to return to the track." 

"The houses on either side stand close to each other, seem to 
have been shops of different kinds, were of the same elevation, 
and nearly the same size. In one of these buddings were found 
several unfinished statues, that announce the woik&hop of a 
statuary. In another, the word salve, engraved in brge char- 
acters on the threshold in mosaic, indicate, it may be supposed 
the readiness of a publican to receive his guests. In one ^he 
amphorx which contained Wine still remains; and on the marble 
slab that served as a shop-board, are the marks of cups and 
glasses. The gate has one large central and two less openings 
on the sides, with parapets of the same breadth as the street; 
without, but close to it, are semicircular recesses with stone 
seats, and beyond a tomb, and a palumbarivm, or a receptacle 
for cinerary urns." 

"The houses are on a small scale, generally of one, sometimes 
of two stories: the principal apartments are always behind, en- 
circling* a court with a portico. round it, and a marble c stern in 
the middle; two had glass windows, (see note, p 35;) in the 
others, shutters only were used; the pavements are all mosaic, 
and the walls are stained with mild colours; the decorations are 
basso relievos in stucco, and paintings in medallions. Marble 
seems to have been common. On the whole, Pompeii, in all the 
circumstances I have mentioned, bears a strong resemblance to 
modern Italian towns, with this only difference, that in point of 
general appearance, the latter have, I think, the advantage. It 
must, however, be remembered, that Pompeii had already been 
damaged by an earthquake, and that the roofs and upper parts 
of the houses have been borne down by the weight of ashes 
showered upon them; and in short, that, as not more than a 
quarter of the town has been hitherto explored, buildings of 
greater magnificence may yet be discovered." 

In fact, subsequent researches have brought to light some 
elegant buildings, among which two tombs, one supposed to 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

to its destruction by the Gauls, in the 364th year 
after its foundation; yet some of the pul>lic buildings 
are said to have displayed much simple grandeur 
even at that early period, and one of the greatest 
works of antiquity, its sewers, stilt attests the solid- 
ity at least of their construction. After that event, it 
was rebuilt in a more substantial manner, yet still 
with no great attention to regularity in the distribu- 
tion, or symmetry in the structure of the houses, 
which were chitflv of wood, inconveniently lofty, 
and crowded together in narrow streets; and although 
the Grecian style of architecture, upon which that of 



have belonged to some noble family, and the other to have been 
a public mausoleum for gladiators who fell in combat, are con- 
spicuous. Some interesting details of the bas-reliefs on the Ut- 
ter, are to be found in a work, entitled "Description de$ Tom- 
beaux qui ont ete decoverts a Pomprti" par A. L. JVLillin. 

The soldier's quarters, to which Mr. Eustace aliudes, are in 
the form of a rectangle, supported by colonnade- of the Doric 
order. R.ngs and bolts are still visible in some small apartments 
behind, supposed to have been prisons; and in one of them was 
found a skeleton in chains. 

Two theatres, a temple to Isis, and the walls of the tow 
have been discovered: the latter are about twenty feet in height, 
by twelve in breadth, and fortified by square towers. 

Various domestic utensils, and some beautiful statuary, have 
at different times been found; but above all, a large quantity of 
manuscripts, from which much interesting information may be 
expected; but the process of unfolding them is so unavoidably 
slow, that a long period must elapse ere their contents can be 
ascertained. 

Herculaneum and Pompeii are both in the vicinity of Naples. 
The earthquake mentioned by Mr. Eustace, happened in the 
year of our Lord 63; and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius — the 
final catastrophe which destroyed them — in August 79. On this 
occasion also perished Pliny the naturalist: the particulars of 
wh >se death, and of many circumstances attending the eruption, 
ar detailed by his nephew, Piiny the younger, in his letters; 
book iv. ep. 16\ 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



33 



the Romans was afterwards modelled, had been in- 
troduced about two centuries previous to the dissolu- 
tion of the republic, it was not until the reign of Au- 
gustus that it was embellished with any very splendid 
edifices. 

The memorable conflagration, in the time of Nero, 
reduced two thirds of the city to ashes. The ca- 
tastrophe has been attributed, with much appearance 
of probability, to that odious tyrant himself; and 
though nothing can be said to palliate an act of such 
wanton atrocity, it must yet be admitted, that he did 
all in his power to repair the mischief he had created; 
and, that Home owed her subsequent splendor to that 
calamity. The town was afterwards erected on a 
more extended and regular plan; the streets were 
widened; the height of the houses was limited to 70 
feet; and regulations were made which ensured a cer- 
tain degree of elegance in their construction. From 
this period, indeed, may be dated that taste of deco- 
ration, and vastness of design, in both private and 
public buildings, which has continued to excite the 
wonder and admiration of succeeding ages. 

Nero himself led the way to these improvements 
by rebuilding a great portion of what had been de- 
stroyed; and by the erection of a palace of such ex- 
traordinary extent and magnificence, that were not 
the descriptions of it which have been transmitted to 
us too well authenticated to admit 7 of doubt, they 
would be received rather as the fictions of an eastern 
tale than as the records of a fact. The enclosure 
extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline Mount, 
which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was 
entirely surrounded with a spacious portico, embel- 
lished with a profusion of sculpture and statu »ry, 
among which stood a colossal statue of Nero him- 
self, 120 feet in height. The gardens contained 
every variety of hill and dale, wood and water, in- 
terspersed with temples and pleasure houses; and the 
baths were supplied from a great distance with sea 
and mineral waters. The apartments were lined 



34, DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

with marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other 
precious gems; the timber works and ceilings were 
inlaid with gold, ivory, and mother-of-pearl; and the 
resplendent elegance of its furniture and decorations, 
procured it the appellation of the Golden House. Bat 
it was not destined to remain a monument of either 
the grandeur or the folly of its founder: it was de- 
stroyed by Vespasian, as being too gorgeous for the 
residence even of a Roman emperor. 

After this epoch, the Town-Houses of persons of 
moderate fortune appear to have been enclosed within 
a court, called the vestibule, which was ornamented 
towards the street with a portico extending along the 
entire front. The entrance was by a flight of steps, 
through a folding gate of carved wood, or not unfre- 
quently of brass, which led to the Atrium, or hall; 
this was a spacious oblong square, surrounded by 
galleries supported on pillars, and seems to have been 
the common sitting-room of the family. In ancient 
times, it was, indeed, the only public apartment for 
all domestic purposes; and it was there that the occu- 
pations of spinning and weaving, which formed so 
material a part of the accomplishments of a Roman 
matron, were carried on by the female slaves under 
her inspection. But, at a later period, it was solely 
appropriated, by families of the middle order, to 
the more refined uses of society, and was divided into 
different apartments by means of ample curtains; 
while in those of higher rank, it served merely as an 
anti chamber to suites of spacious reception rooms. 
There were other apartments for supper, and for ge- 
neral accommodation; and separate beo 5 -rooms for 
night, and lor the repose in which the Romans were 
accustomed to indulge in the middle o the day. 

The atrium contained a hearth, on which a fire was 
kept constantly burning, and around which were 
ranged the Lares, or images of the ancestors of the 
family. These were nothing more than waxen busts, 
and, though held in great respect, were not treated 
with the same veneration a» the Penates, or house-* 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gg 

hold gods, which were considered of divine origin, 
and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but 
were kept in an inner apartment, called the Penetralia, 
where they were worshipped according to the pecu- 
liar rites of the family of whose adoration they were 
the objects. The lares, however, participated in the 
homage paid to the penates, and the ceremonies ap- 
propriated to both constituted what was termed the 
domestic worship. 

The Romans were ignorant of the use of chim- 
neys, and were, consequently, not a little annoyed by 
smoke, in those houses in which the atrium was oc- 
cupied by the family. Various expedients were re- 
sorted to in order to diminish the nuisance; one of 
which was, to anoint the wood, of which their fuel 
was composed, with the lees of oil. The mildness 
of the climate precluded the general use of fires in the 
private apartments; and when artificial warmth was 
required, it was afforded by means of a portable fur- 
nace, which, probably, was merely a deep brass pan, 
containing live embers; a custom which prevails at 
the present day in many parts of the southern conti- 
nent of Europe. In great houses, a mode was af- 
terwards introduced of heating the rooms b) flues 
from a stove placed below them. 

The windows were closed with blinds of linen, or 
plates of horn, but more generally merely with shut- 
ters of wood: during the time of the emperors, a 
species of transparent stone, or talc, was used for that 
purpose; but this was an elegance appropriated ex- 
clusively to the mansions of the most distinguished 
citizens. Glass, though not unknown to the Ro- 
mans, was not employed to admit light to their 
apartments until towards the fifth century of the 
Christian sera.^ The houses were built with high 



* The first mention of "glass -windows" occurs in the writings 
of St. Jerome. Neither Seneca nor Pliny, who minutely de- 
scribes the- transparent stone used in windows, and also details 
the supposed particulars of the discovery of glass fffist. Nat. 1. 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there was 
usually an open space in the centre to afford light to 
the inner apartments, as well as for other purposes of 
domestic convenience. This area, when sufficiently 
large, was surrounded by a colonnade, contained a 
reservoir of water, frequently a fountain, and was in 
other respects arranged with a view to ornament as 
well as utility. 

The outer door was furnished with a bell,^ and 
sometimes, as a mark of peculiar distinction, and by 
particular privilege, opened against the street. The 
entrance was guarded by a slave, who,. — but for what 
reason does not appear, — was kept in chains; he was 
armed with a staff, and attended by a dog; precau- 
tions that would seem to argue considerable dread of 
depredation and violence, were we not also informed, 
that this apparently important trust was not unfre- 
quently delegated to old women, 

Extensive gardens were attached to some palaces 
of the nobility; and many houses, though not pos- 
sessed of that advantage, were surrounded with trees 



xxxiv. 22 et 26, J mention the latter as having been used for 
that purpose. It is probable, therefore, that Mr, Eustace has 
committed an inadvertant mistake, when he incidentally says of 
the houses in Pompeii that "two had glass windows." (See JYote, 
p. 48 J 

The authorities, and the arguments of commentators, on this 
subject, are amply discussed in BeckmanrCs History of Invert- 
tions, vol. iii. Art. JUirrors. 

* " Bells" were known to the earliest times of which we have 
any certain account. But the bells of the ancients were very 
small in comparison with those of modern times; since, according 
to Polydore Virgil, the invention of such as are hung in the 
towers, or steeples of Christian churches, did not occur till the 
latter end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century, when 
they were introduced by Paulinus, bishop of Nola." 

Busby's History of JVLusic> vol. i. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gw 

interspersed wit;h statues,* of which latter it is sup- 
posed there were as many in Rome as there were in- 
habitants. The Romans were, indeed, passionately 
fond of gardens; and as that taste could not be in- 
dulged to much extent in the city, it was displayed 
with great magnificence at their country- seats^ or 
villas. 

It does not fall within the scope of these sketches 
to present a general view of the city of Rome, much 
less a delineation of the countless public buildings by 
which it aas adorned:f but the Capitol and the Forum 
would together constitute so prominent a feature in 
the picture of which they are intended to convey an 
idea, and are so frequently mentioned in history, that 
a brief outline of these edifices can scarcely be dis- 
pensed with. 

The Capitol was a strong fortification, first founded 
by th^s^cond Tarquin, but subsequently destroyed, 
and restored, at three different periods. The struc- 
ture, of which there are still some vestiges, was com- 
pleted in the reign of the emperor Domitian. Tradi- 
tion ascribes its name to the circumstance of a hu- 
man head having been found on digging for the 
foundation, with the face entire; but it seems unne- 
cessary to seek in fable for the origin of an appella- 
tion whicn is in itself sufficiently expressive of domin- 
ion. It was erected on the Tarpeian rock, one of the 



* " Statues. 9 ' Among these, there were in various parts of the 
city, 19 of gold, — as we are told, but more probably of brass 
gilt, — and SO of solid silver, 

f " Public Buildings" Ancient Rome is said to have contain- 
ed 420 temples, — 5 regular theatres, — 2 amphitheatres, — 7 cir- 
cuses,— 16 public baths, — 11 aqueducts, supplying a prodigious 
number of fountains, — and innumerable public halls, porticos, 
palaces, columns, and obelisks. 

Modern Rome contains 346 churches, — 150 palaces,— 3 aque- 
ducts, — 13 fountains,— 10 obelises, — and the two celebrated co- 
lumns of Trajan and Antonius. • 

Eustace's Class. Tour, and CaviblielVs Italy, fcassinh 

E 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

highest of the seven hills of the city, from every part 
of which it was conspicuous. The approach to it 
was through the via lata, or broad-way, and the as- 
cent was from the Forum, by a double flight of wide 
stairs leading to a triumphal arch, through which 
was the principal entrance* It contained temples 
dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius, to Juno, to Minerva, 
and various inferior deities, from the centre of which 
rose the lofty fane of Jupiter Capitolinus, elevated 
above the rest upon a towering eminence of one hun- 
dred steps. The portal was of bronze; the spacious 
dome was doubly gilt; the roof, and indeed the whole 
fabric, wtis refulgent to *such excess that the very 
gilding alone is said to have cost two millions ster- 
ling!^ The exterior was adorned on all sides, from 
the base to the summit, with a multitude pf statues 
surmounted by the figure of victory bearing the Ro- 
man eagle. The interior was crowded with* trophies, 
the spoils of conquered nations; the image of the god 
was seated on a throne of gold; and every other deco- 
ration was of corresponding magnificence. 

The Forum was the most ancient public building 
in Rome: it was composed of a vast assemblage of 
sumptuous, but irregular edifices,- forming a spacious 
oblong square, extending from the Capitoline to the 
Palatine hills,— this, crowned with the palace of the 
emperor, that with the temple of the tutelary deity > — - 
and was entirely surrounded by a piazza, terminated 



* The very gilding alone is said to have cost tivo millions sterling." 
Some authors have, estimated it still higher. It ha* been gene- 
rally supposed that the dome of the temple was plated with gold, 
from an idea that the Romans were not acquainted with, the 
modern art of gilding: but that is a mistake. They had not in- 
deed attained the same perfection in the art of making gold-leaf; 
but it appears they had so far succeeded, that, in the time of 
Pliny, an ounce of gold was beaten into 750 leaves; each four 
inches square. At present the same quantity is made to cover 
a surface of 140 square feet. See Beckmann's Hist, of Inventions, 
vol. iy. art* Gilding. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. glj 

at each end of a triumphal arch. It was here that 
the assemblies of the people were held; and from the 
rostra were delivered those celebrated harangues by 
which the tribunes stimulated the plcbeiaift to resist 
the oppression of the patrician order. Here also jus- 
tice was administered in vast halls appropriated to 
the different tribunals. :; ' It was besides the residence 
of the chief bankers; it contained a variety of shops 
stored with a profusion of the most costly merchan- 
dize; and it was the mart for all important commer- 
cial transactions. TJhus being the emporium of law, 
politics, and trade, it became equally the resort of the 
man of business and the lounger,, and was the scene 
of the chief bustle of the city.f 

Until the time of Julius Caesar there was but this 
one forum; but he added another upon a more regu- 
lar and costly, though not so extensive a plan; and 
succeeding emperors followed his example, and even 



* These " Halls of Justice" were termed Basilica: at a later 
period some of them were converted into places of Christian wor- 
ship: thus the Basilica Vatic ana became a church under the well 
known appellation of St. Peter's. 

f " The glories -of the ' Forum 9 are now fled for ever; its tem- 
ples are fallen; its sanctuaries have crumbled into dust; its co- 
lonnades encumber its pavements now buried under their re- 
mains. The walls of the Rostra stripped of their ornaments, 
and doomed to eternal silence; a few shattered porticos, and here 
and there an insulated column standing' in the midst of broken 
shafts, vast fragments of marble capitals and cornices heaped 
together in masses, remind the traveller that the field which he 
now traverses was once the Roman Forum." 

" So far have the modern Romans forgotten the theatre of the 
and of the impe rial power, of their ancestors, as to degrade 
it into a common market for cattle, and sink its name, illustra- 
ted by every page of Roman history, into the contemptible ap- 
pellation of Campo Vaccino" 

u Of all the ancient glory of the " Capitol" nothing now re- 
mains but the solid foundation, and vast substructions raised on 
the rock," Eustace's Class. Tour, vol i. 



40 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



rivalled him in expense. Trajan, in particular, erec- 
ted one in a most sumptuous style, in the centre of 
which was placed the celebrated pillar known by his 
name, which still remains, together with the almost 
equally admired column of Antoninus; both splendid 
monuments of the perfection to which the arts had 
then attained, and of the munificence with which 
they were encouraged. These pillars, — which nearly 
resemble each other^ — are about 120 feet in height, 
and are elaborately sculptured with a series of groups, 
winding spirally round the shafts, each descriptive of 
some military exploit in the annals of the respective 
emperors. The figures embrace every variety of 
dress and weapon, standard and hostile engine, em- 
ployed in the armies of those days, and form a minute 
and most interesting representation of ail the "pomp 
and circumstance" of Roman warfare. They were 
surmounted with the colossal statues of the monarchs 
in whose honor they were erected; but these the piety 
of modern times has long since replaced with those 
of St. Peter and St. Paul! 

It is singular that the Romans, who paid such 
extraordinary attention to the construction of roads, 
that they were carried in various directions through^ 
out the whole extent of their vast empire, and were 
formed with such solidity as still to remain, in many 
parts, in perfect repair, should yet have neglected to 
pave the streets of the capital. What renders this 
more to be wondered at, Herculaneum and Pompeii 
are found, wherever they have been explored, to have 
been not only paved, but provided with raised foot- 
ways; yet certain it is, the streets of Rome were only 
partially provided with pavement, and were entirely 
destitute of any separate path far the convenience 
of pedestrians, unless where that deficiency was 
supplied by the porticos in front of the houses. 

N ither was the city lighted, nor watched. There 
was a patrols indeed, but the police regulations were 
so defective, that the streets were the constant scene 
of midnight brawls, and foot passengers incurred no 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



41 



small danger of being either insulted by .some drun- 
ken r-ioter, or knocked down by a. robber. So far 
was the government from applying a remedy to the 
evil which' at length grew to an alarming height, 
that many of the dissolute emperors were themselves 
foremost in those frays, of which, and some other of 
the inconveniencies of Rome, a humorous description 
has been given by Juvenal : — 

"There are who murder as an 'opiate take, ■ 

And only when no brawls await them, wake : 

Yet e'en these heroes, flush'd with youth and wine, 

All contest with the purple robe decline; 

Securely give the lengthen'd train to pass, 

The sun-bright flambeaux, and the lamps of brass. — 

Me, whom the moon, or candle's paler gleam, 

Whose wick 1 husband to the last extreme, 

Guides through the gloom, he braves, devoid of fear: 

The prelude to our doughty quarrel hear, 

If that be deem'd a quarrel, where, heaven knows, 

He only g-ives, and I receive, the blows ! 

Across my path he strides, and bids me stand ! 

I bow, obsequious to the dread command; 

What else remains, where madness, rage, combine 

With youth, and strength superior far to mine ? 

"Whence come you, rogue?" he cries; "whose beans to-night, 
Have stuff'd you thus? what cobbler clubb'd his mile, 
Vov leeks, and sheep's-head porridge ? dumb ! quite dumb! 
Speak, or be k^ck'd. — Yet once again ! your home? 
• Where shail 1 find you ? At what beggar's stand, 

(Temple or bridge) whimp'ring with outstretch'd hand?" 
Whether I strive some humble plea to frame, 
Or steal in silence by, 'tis just the same; 
I'm beaten first, then dragg'd in rage away; 
Bound to the peace, or punish'd for the fray! 

Gifford, sat, iii. 

The poet complains also of the frequency of mid- 
night alarms of fire; and gives an appealing picture of 
the danger to be apprehended from burglary and 
assassination* 



£S 



DOMESTIC MAKNERS AND 



The citv *ws*s cleansed by mrans of sewers of stu* 
pendous magnitude, and of su< h solid workmanship 
that, after a 1 ipse of more than two thousand years, 
the principal drain, anciently th^ Qloaca maxima is 
Stib entire. They were chi-fl constructed in the 
earliest ages of the republic, and were constantly 
maintained in repair: openings were made into them 
at stated distances to receive the filth of the streets, 
and they were emptied by means of rapid streams 
■which swept through them into the Tiber; but.it does 
not appear that the houses had any private commu- 
nication with them. The principal thoroughfares seem 
to have had their full share oi the various annoyances' 
incident to the throng of a great metropolis; and the 
town was not altogether exempt from the nuisance 
of impurities being thrown from the windows: 

" While by the throng 1 

Elbow" d and jostled, scarce we creep along", 

Sharp strokes from poles, tubs, rafters, doom'd to feel; 

And plaster' d o'er with mud, from head to heel: 

While the rude soldier gores us as he goes, 

Or marks, in blood, his progress on our toes '.'*# 

cc, Trs madness, dire improvidence of ill, 

To sup abroad, before you sign your will; 

Since fate in ambush lies, and marks his prey, 

TYom every wakeful window in the way: 

Pray, then, — and count your humble prayer well sped, 

If pots be only — emptied on your head." 

GifforcVs Juvenal, sat. ill. 

The population of Rome has been variously es- 
timated, but not accurately ascertained. The census, 
which was taken every fifth year, included all those 
who were entitled to the privileges of Roman citi- 
zens;, the greater portion of whom, it has been al- 
ready observed, were not resident in the city. . From 



* " Or marks, in blood* his progress on our toes" This alludes 
to the shoes worn by the soldiery, which were either shod with 
iron, or set with nails. They were called Caliga. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



43 



a census in the reign of the emperor Claudius, it ap- 
pears that the number of men capable of bearing 
arms amounted to 6,94.5 000, and that of the inhabit- 
ants, of all classes, in Rome, and the suburbs, to 
3.968,000. But the suourbs art not defined, and 
thrv are supposed to have extended to the distance 
of several mi!rs. The actual population docs not 
exceed 180,000 souls; and they occupy a space equal 
to about one third of the area within the walls of the 
former city. But. the houses in ancient Rome were 
more lofty than those of modern construction, arid 
could therefore accommodate a greater number of 
persons; particularly- as the diff rent floors appear to 
have been very generally occupied by separate tenants^ 
The number of domestic slaves also far exceeded the 
present proportion ot servants, and they were, no 
doubt, crowded into a much narrower compos. 
From these data we may inler, that if the city itself 
contained a million of inhabit arts, that was, probably, 
th ir utmost limit. But if this conjecture, and the 
Census of Claudius, be both correct, the suburban 
population must either have been spread over a much 
wider extent than it seems reasonable to include with- 
in the precincts of a town; or, it must have been much 
more dense than we should be l< d to conclude, either 
fre>m an examination of the existing vestiges of for- 
mer buildings, or a consideration of the space which 
must have been occupied bv the numerous villas with 
which Rome was surrounded. The subject is, how- 
ever, only important in an historical and political 
vi .w; and it is sufficient for our present inquiry to 
ka'CiW), that, whatever mav have been the real amount 
of the population, it certainly far exceeded that of any 
modern capitol in Europe. 

To those who reflect on the. high degree of opu- 
lence and civilization to which the Romans had at- 
tained towards, the close of the republic, it n ust af- 
fo-d matter of surprise to learn, that the citv con- 
tained no public hospitals for the reception of the in* 
digent. The temple of iEsculapius was, indeed^ 



4* 



DOMESTIC "MANNERS AND 



open to the infirm, and many, of every rank, who 
laboured under disease, were carried thither, to in- 
voke the god of health; but no human aid was af- 
forded them; and it was not until the beglnijing of 
the fifth century that *he fust infirmary was erected 
by a Christian lady, named Fabioia. Her benevo- 
lent txample was soon followed by others of her 
sect; and not only in home, but throughout Eui ope, 
the first establishment of those humane institutions 
was due to the introduction or Christianity. 

The practice of physic seems to have been nearly 
confined . to the administration of simples,-, which 
were prepared by the physicians themselves. These 
they obtained of dealers who were distinguished by 
various appellations, with the precise meaning of 
which we are not acquainted, but which, no doubt, 
pointed to ,the different branches or their trade. 
rf C< impounders of medicines alone were unknown; 
and it is remarkable, that tht word apothtcarius^ 
from which our "apothecary" is derived, merely 
signified the keeper of any warehouse, without re- 
ference to the commodities it contained. The medi* 
camentaru, whose name approaches the nearest to 
the business of an apothecary, were designated, in 
the . Theodosian code, as common poisoners! The 
medical profession was, however, in high repute: 
the principal practitioners were Greeks; and it ap- 
pears that many of them derived as large an income 
from their practice, as the most celebrated physi- 
cians of the present day. In families of distinction, 
it was not unusual to have a slave instructed in nrud- 
icine; sevt rai of whom obtained their freedom, and 
rose to eminence in their profession. 

Notwithstanding the want of accommodation for 
the necessitous sick,, and that infanticide was not 
looked upon as criminal in the view of the law, it 
h s been thought probable that Rome, at an early- 
period, contained foundling hospitals for the recep- 
tion of deserted children. That orphans were pro- 
vided for by the state, as well as by charitable indi- 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^g, 

viduals; has been proved by the discovery of an an- 
cient document that was found in the neighbourhood 
of Placentia, in the year 1747V This curious relic 
of antiquity — which consists of a ponderous copper 
tablet, five feet in height, and ten in breadth — con- 
tains an * inscription of more than six hundred lines, 
purporting, that the emperor Trajan had laid out a 
capital of 1, 044,000 sesterces, on mortgage at five 
per cent, interest, which was to be divided monthly, 
among 245 boys and 34 girls born in wedlock, and 
two illegitimate children, belonging to the communi- 
ty of Velleia. The same tablet records a bequest, 
by one Cornelius, of a smaller amount, for a similar 
purpose: but it makes no allusion to orphan-houses 
for the reception of the children, nor of the manner 
in which the money was to be applied; and, indeed, 
the sums appear much too moderate to have been 
intended for their entire support. Mention is. how- 
ever, made of such houses in the Justinian code, 

The Sestertius^ or sesterce, was a silver coin, the 
value of which has been estimated at nearly two- 
pence of our money; consequently, the amount of 
Trajan's endowment for the orphans of Valeia was, 
nominally, equal to about 8400/. sterling; but as we 
are unacquainted with the proportion which money 
bore, at that period, to the necessaries of life, we 
have no means of ascertaining its relative value at 
the present time. The other silver coins in circi 
tion were all of small value. The only golden mo- 
ney of note was the Aureus, of the currrut value of 
100 sesterces, and even this was not introduced until 
the middle of the sixth centurv of the Roman sera : 
its iiurinsic worth was afterwards much diminished; 
but it continued, notwithstanding, to pass at its oxi- 
gin at rate, under the altered name of Solidus. 

L »rge sums wrre usually computed bv the sester- 
tium s which was a nominal monry of account, com- 
prising 1000 sesterces. The talent of silver, so fre- 
quently 7 mentioned in historv, consisted ol twentv- 
four sestertici) or 24 } 0U0 sesterces, 



46 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



It would appear, from the terms on which Tra- 
jan's benefaction was invested, that the annual inter- 
est of money at that time was live per cent.; but it 
was not so. regulated by law; as we learn from the 
correspondence of the younger Pliny, that he had 
himself placed a considerable sum on mortgage, dur- 
ing the same reign, at six per cent., and that twelve 
per cent, was customary on persona! security.^ 

The sources of wealth that were opened to men of 
rank, through the channels of commands in the dis- 
tant provinces, and the various other lucrative em- 
ployments in the service of a government which is 
believed to have extended over one hundred and 
twenty millions of su';.jects,f will sufficiently account 
for the riches possessed by many of the Romans, and 
for the prodigal expense in which the higher orders 
were enabled to indulge. The fortune of Crassus, 
one of the wealthiest of the patricians, has been esti- 
mated at a sum equivalent to thr£e millions sterling: 
and there were many other individuals the value of 
whose possessions approached to that amount. But 
there, is reason to suppose that affluerice was not so 
universally diffused, among the middle classes ns in 
the present age: many of the lower orders were re-' 
duced, as we have already seen, to- the extreme of 
indigence; and the vague idea we are apt to form to 
ourselv* s of the vast opulence of Rome seems rather 
to arise from dazzling recitals c: the splendor of the 



*"Pe>sonal security" Plin. Ep's ! . 1. vii. ep. 18, et 1. x: ep. 
62. It must, however, be remarked, that the interest of 12 per 
cent, alluded to by Pliny, in the last mentioned letter, was not 
at Rume, but in a distant province. It affords a strong- proof of 
the then flourish ng state of the public finances, that the money 
to be laid out belonged to government. 

•\" Subjects" For an enumeration of the provinces of the 
Roman empire, and a calculation of the total population und 
revenue, see Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Mom, Fmp. vol. i. 
G. 1, 2 3 and 6, 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. 



45 



executive government, and the magnificence of the 
public buildings, with some striking, and perhaps 
exaggerated examples of lavish expenditure among 
the great, than from any solid proofs of general pros- 
perity. 



CHAP. V. 



"Country Houses. — Description of Pliny's Villa.- Gardens, 

The Roman villa was originally nothing more 
than a farm-house of a very humble description, sole- 
ly occupied by the industrious cultivator of the soil. 
But when increasing riches had inspired the citizen 
with a taste for new pleasures, and he had extended 
his enjoyments to the country, the term lost its for- 
mer signification, and was used to denote the abode 
of opulence and luxury. It is fortunate for our re- 
searches into antiquity that an elaborate description 
of two of those villas has been recorded in the letters 
of Pliny the younger; and though not intended for 
publication, it is singular, that it should be the most 
satisfactory account that has reached us. We shall 
select that of his summer residence in Tuscany, at 
about 150 miles distance from Rome; and however 
well known it may already be to the classical reader, 
its introduction here will not, it is presumed, require 
apology: nor would it be just to clothe it in any 
other language than his own, as rendered to us by 
his elegant translator Mr. Melmoth. 



^g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

" My villa"* — says he — '> is so advanta- 
geously situated, that it commands a full view 
of ail the country arouna; yet you approach 
it by so insensible a rise, that you find your- 
self upon an eminence without perceiving you as- 
cended. Behind, but at a great distance, stand the 
Appenny^e- Mountains. In the calmest days we are 
refreshed by the winds that blow from thtnee, but 
so spent, as it were, by the long tract of land they 
travel over, that tiiey are entirely divested of all 
their btrength and violence before they reach us. 
The exposition of the principal front of the house 
is full south, and seems to invite the afternoon sun 
in summer (but somewhat earlier in winter) into a 
spacious and well proportioned portico, consisting of 
several members, particularly a porch built in the 
ancient manner. In the front of the portico is a sort 
of terrace, embellished with various figures, and 
bounded with a box hedge, from whence you de- 
scend by an easy slope, adorned with the represen- 
tation of divers animals, in box, answering altern- 
ately to each other, into a lawn overspread with the 
soft, I had almost said the liquid Acanthus:f this is 
surrounded by a walk enclosed with tonsile ever- 
greens, shaped into a variety of forms. Beyond it 
is the Gestatio \ laid out in the form of a circus, or- 



*"J\4y villa" This was Pliny's principal seat. It has been 
imagined that, some traces of it might yet be discovered near a 
town called Stintignano> in the neighborhood of Ponie di San 
Stef-ino, about ten miles north of the Episcopal City of Borgo 
di San Sepulchro: but it would appear, from the inquiries made 
by the late Rev. Mr. Eustace,, while on his "Classical Tour" 
through Italy, that there is but little foundation for that hope. 

f" 'Acanthus" Modern botanists term this plant garden-bear* s- 
foot; but commentators are not agreed whether moss is not here 
meant; and it has been supposed that the Acanthus alluded to 
in a subsequent part of Pliny's description is Brankur^me. 

i:The "Gestatio" was a place appropriated for taking exercise, 
—see chap. viii. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^g 

lamented in the middle with box cut in numberless 
different figures, together with a plantation of shrubs, 
prevented by the shears from shooting up too high: the 
whole is fenced in with a wail covered by box,rising by 
different ranges to the top. On the outside of the wall 
lies a meadow, that owes as many beauties to nature, 
as all I have been describing within does to <ut; at 
the end of which are several other meadows and 
fields interspersed with thickets. At the extremity 
of this portico stands a grand dining room, which 
opens upon one end of the terrace; as from the win- 
dows there is a very extensive prospect over the 
meadows up into the country, from whence you also 
have a view ol the terrace, and such parts of the 
house which project forward, together with the 
woods enclosing the adjacent Hippodrome^- Oppo* 
site almost to the centre of the portico, stands a 
square edifice, which encompasses a sm 11 area, 
shaded by four plane-trees, in the midst of which a 
fountain rises, from whence the water, running over 
the edges of' a mar ale basin, gently refreshes the 
surrounding plane-trees, and the verdure underneath 
them. This apartment consists of a bed-chamber, 
secured from every kind of noise, and which the 
light itself cannot penetrate; together with a com- 
mon dining room, which I use when I have none but 
intimate friends with me. A second portico looks 
upon this little area, and has the same prospect 
with the former I just now described. There is, 
besides, another room, which, being situated close 
to the nearest plane-tree, enjoys a constant shade and 
verdure; its sides are incrusted half wav with carv- 



*The "Eippodrowe" was in its proper signification, a place 
among the Grecians, set apart for chariot-racing-, and similar ex- 
ercises, in the same manner as the Roman circus. But it seems 
here to be nothing 1 more than a particular walk to which Pliny, 
probably, gave that name, from its bearing some resemblance 
to the places so called. — For a description of the Grecian Hip* 
podrome, see Br. Hill's Essays on Ancient Greece. 



50 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



ed marble; and from thence to the ceiling a foliage 
is painted with birds intermixed among the branches, 
which has an effect altogether as agreeable as that of 
the carving: at the basis of which, a little fountain, 
playing through several pipes into a vase, produces 
a most pleasing murmur. From a corner of this 
portico you enter into a very spacious chamber, op- 
posite to the grand dining-room, which, from some 
of its windows, has a view of the terrace, and from 
others, of the meadow; as those in the front look 
upon a cascade, which entertains at once both the 
eye and the ear; for the water, dashing from a 
great height, foams over the marble basin that re- 
ceives it below. This room is extremely warm in 
winter, being much exposed to the sun; and in a 
cloudy day, the heat of an adjoining stove very 
well supplies his absence. From hence you pass 
through a spacious and pleasant undressing room 
into the cold-bath-room, in which is a large gloomy 
bath: but if you are disposed to swim more at 
large, or in warmer water, in the middle of the area 
is a wide basin for that purpose, and near it a reser- 
voir fBom whence you may be supplied with cold wa- 
ter to brace yourself again if you should perceive 
you are too much relaxed by the warm. Contigu- 
ous to the cold bath is another of a moderate degree 
of heat, which enjoys the kindly warmth of the sun, 
but not so intensely as that of the hot-bath, which 
projects farther. This last consists of three di- 
visions, each of different degrees of heat: the two 
former lie entirely open to the sun; the latter, though 
not so much exposed to its rays receives an equal 
share of its light. Over the undressing room is built 
the Tennis- Court * which, by means of particular 



*"Tennis- Court." "The circles were probably nothing' more 
than particular marks on the floor, the success of their play 
depending- on the ball's alighting in such a circle after it had 
been struck; which it was the adversary's business to prevent: 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. g^ 

circles, admits of different kinds of games. Not 
far from the baths, is the stair-case leading to the in- 
closed portico, after you have first passed through 
three apartments: one of these looks upon the little 
area with the four plane trees round it; the other has 
a sight of the meadows; and from the third you have 
a view of several vine- yards: so that they have as 
many different prospects as expositions. At one end 
of the inclosed portico, and in-deed, taken off from 
it, is a chamber that looks upon the hippodrome, the 
vineyai'ds, and the mountains; adjoining is a room 
which has a full exposure to the. sun, especially in 
the winter; and from w T hence runs an apartment that 
connects the hippodrome with the house: such is the 
form and aspect of the front. On the side rises an 
inclosed summer-portico, which has not only a pros- 
pect of the vine-yards, but seems almost contiguous 
to them. From the middle of this portico, you en- 
ter a dining-yoom, cooled by the salutary breezes 
from the Appenine valleys; from the windows in the 
back-front, which are extremely large, there is a 
prospect of the vine-yards; as you have also another 
view of them from the folding-doors through the 
summer portico. Along that side of this dining- 
room, where there are no windows, runs a private 
stair-case, for the greater conveniency of serving at 
entertainments: at the farther end is a chamber, from 
whence the eye is pleased with the view of the vine- 
yards, and (what is not less agreeable) of the porti- 
co. Underneath the room is an enclosed portico, 
somewhat resembling a grotto, which enjoyed in the 
midst of summer heats its ever natural coolness, 
neither admits nor wants the refreshment of external 
breezrs. After you have passed both these porticos, 



and the "different kind of games" this room was made for, 
might be diver-.. fied by lines, or circles, on the walls or floor, 
like the game of tennis, which though it takes one entire room, 
ipay serve for several games of the like nature." 

Castel's Remarks on Tusculwn* 



"ffS 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



at the end of the dining-room stands a third, which? 
as the day is more or less advanced, serves either for 
winter or summer use. It leads to two different 
apartments, one containing four chambers, the other 
three; each enjoying by turns, both sun and shade. 
In the front of these agreeable buildings, lies a very 
spacious hippodrome entirely open in the middle, 
by which means the eye, upon your first entrance, 
takes In its whole .extent at one glance. It is en- 
compassed on every side with plane-trees,^ covered 
with ivy; so that while their heads flourish with 
their own foliage,, their bodies enjoy a borrowed 
verdure, and thus, the ivy twining round the trunk 
and branches, spreads from tree to tree, and con- 
nects them together. Between each plane-tree are 
planted box- trees, and between these bay-trees, 
which blend their shade with that of the planes. 
This plantation, forming a straight boundary on 
both sides of the hippodrome, bends At the farther 
end into a semicircle, which, being set round and 
sheltered with cypress-trees, varies the prospect, 
and casts a deeper gloom; while the inward circular 
walks (for there are several) enjoying an open expo- 
sure, are perfumed with roses, and correct, by a 
very pleasing contrast, the coolness of the shade with 
the warmth of the sun. Having passed through 
these several winding alleys, you enter a straight 
walk, which breaks out into a variety of others, di- 
vided by box-hedges. In one place, you have a lit- 
tle meadow; in another, the box is cut into a thou- 
sand different forms; sometimes into letters express- 
ing the name of the master; sometimes that of the 



*The "Plane-Tree" was much cultivated among the Romans 
on account of its extraordinary shade; and the elder Pliny tells 
Us, in his Natural History, that they nourished it with wine in» 
Stead of water; "believing," as Sir William Temple in his Essay 
on Gardening observes, "that this tree loved that liquor as well 
as those who drank under its shade " 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



58 



artificer: whilst here arid there little obelisks rise in- 
termixed alternately with fruit trees: when, on a sud- 
den, in the midst of this elegant rtgularity, you are 
surprised with an imitation ol the negligent beauties 
of rural nature: in the centre of which lies a spot 
surrounded with a knot of dwarf-plane-trees. Be- 
yond these is a 'walk planted with the smooth and 
twining acanthus, where the trees are also cut into a 
variety of namrs and shapes. At the upper end is 
an alcove of white marble, shaded with vines, sup- 
ported by four small Carystian pillars.^ From this 
bench the water gushing through several little pipes 
as if it were pressed out by the weight of the per- 
sons who repose themselves upon it, falls into a stone 
cistern underneath, from whence it is received into 
a fine polished marble basin, so artfully contrived, 
th a it is always full without ever over- flowing. 
When I sup here, this basin serves for a table, the 
largest sort of dishes being placed round the margin, 
while the smaller ones swim about in the form of lit- 
tle vessels and water-fowl. Corresponding to this T 
is a fountain which is incessantly emptying and fill- 
ing; for the water, which it throws up a great height, 
falling back into it, is by means of two openings, 
returned as fast as it is received. Fronting the al- 
cove (and which reflects as great an ornament to it 
as it borrows from it,) stands a summer-house of 
exquisite marble, the doors whereof project, and 
open into a green inclosure; as from its upper and 
lower windows, the eye is presented with a variety 
of different verdures. Next to this is a little private 
recess, (which, though it seems distinct may be laid 
into the same room,) furnished with a coiu h; and, 
notwithstanding it has windows on every side, yet it 



*" Carystian Pillars" This marble was obtained from an 
Island in the Grecian Archipelago, now called jYegroponte. It is 
supposed to ha ye been of that kind which we call verd-an- 
tique, 

F2: 



Wk 



DOMESTIC MANNERS ANB 



ei j >ys a very agreeable gloominess, by means of a 
spreading vine winch climbs to the top, and entirely 
oyershades it. Here you may recline and fancy 
yourself in a wood; with this difference only, that 
ypu are not exposed to the weather. In this place a 
fountain also risrs and instantly disappears; in dif- 
ferent quarters are disposed several marble seats, 
which serve, no less than the summej house, as so 
xn.-ny reliefs after one is wearied with walking Near 
earn seat is a little fountain; and, throughout the 
whole hippodrome, several small rills run murmur- 
ing along, wheresoever the hand of art thought pro- 
per to conduct them, watering here and there differ- 
ent spots of verdure, and in their progress refresh- 
ing the whole. "^ 

Spacious as this villa appears to have been, it was 
only one, of four, which belonged to the same per- 
sor ; each of which — if we may judge from a de- 
scription which he has left of another of them, was 
of nearly equal extent: and if we reflect, that Pliny, 
although a nobleman of high rank, was not looked 
upon as a man of large fortune, and was, besides, 
remarkable for his prudence and moderation, we may 
form some idea of the magnificence displayed in the 
houses of those whose taste for luxury and expense 
Was uncontrolled by similar considerations. 

But it will not escape observation, that in no 
part of this minute description is th-re any allusion 
to a flower -garden. Nor although they worshipped 
a Deity, who was supposed to preside over flowers, 



*This description has been extracted from B. v. ep. 6. of* 
Pliny's Letters; and the same work affords equally ample details 
of another of that author's villas, called Laurentinum, situated 
at a few miles distance from Rome, in the vicinity of the Ports 
of Ostia: they are in B. ii. ep. 17; and they who wish for still 
further information will find copious particulars in CasteVs % r iU 
las of the Ancients*. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



55 



does it any where appear that the Romans cultivated 
a taste for botany, or paid any attention to the im- 
provement of thrir indigenous plants^ or to the ac- 
quisition of rxotics. Though it is probable that, at 
a later period than that in which Piinv wrote, their 
intercourse with the nations oi the East, whrre a 
passion for flowers seems ever to have prevailed; 
gradually furnished them with that fragrant collec- 
tion which now blooms in the Italian parterre. Their 
stvle of ornamental gardening was formal and heavy; 
more calculated to procure shade thin to create 
scenery, and better adapted to the er.jovm nt of ex- 
ercise than of prospect. Gloomy walks, bounded by 
high clipped hedges, over-shadowed with ev^r- 
geens, and encumbered with statues, were the pre- 
vailing taste; and it has not vet been entirely explod- 
ed from the gardens of modern Italy. It is also 
worthy of remark, that the laurel, with which we 
are wont to crown the heroes of antiquity, is sup- 
posed not to have had a place in the gardens of the 
ancients. The plant mentioned in the poets hy the 
name of laurus, a very learned botanist conjectures 
to have been the bay-tree;^ and he assigns as one, 
apparently conclusive, reason, the odour ascribed to 



*"Bay tree" The botanist alluded to {Professor Marty n, of 
Cambridge,) observes, "Our laurel was hardly known in Europe 
till the latter end of the 16th centurv, about which time it 
seems to have been brought from Trebizond to Constantinople, 
and from thence into most parts of Europe. The laurel has no 
fine smell, which is a property ascribed to it by Virgil in the 
second Eclogue, and again in the sixth Eneid; nor is the laurel 
remarkable for crackling in the fir?, of which there is abundant 
mention with regard to the laurus. These characters agree very 
well with the bay -tree, which seems to be, most certainly, the 
laurus of the ancients; and is at this time frequent in the woods 
andhedges of Italy, Notes upon the Ge orgies. 



^g DOMESTIC MANNERS &c. 

it, in Virgil's pastorals, in which the laurel is defi- 
cient: — 

i( Et vos, o lauri, carpam, et te proxime, myrte, 
Sic positce, quonium suayes miscetis odors." 

Eclog-. ii. 

"The laurel and the myrtle sweets agree, 
And both in nosegays shall be bound for thee." 

Dryden. 

Some villas were surrounded by enclosed parks* 
in which deer, and various wild animals were kept* 
but in general they had only extensive gardens. Spa- 
cious fish-ponds were a usu*l appendage; and, through 
a refinement of false taste, we are told, that in order 
to render the sheep that pastured on the lawns orna- 
mental, as well as useful, it was not unusual to dye 
their fleeces of various colours 

Our surprise at the number of villas that were 
maintained by some individuals, will in a great 
measure cease, if we reflect, that the landed proper- 
ty of the Romans w^s in general cultivated on their 
own account by their slaves, and therefore required 
th- ir fr< quent personal superintendence. There is 
also reason to believe, that, even when their estates 
were farmed by tenants, the rent was rather paid in 
kind than in money, and was more frequently esti- 
mated at a certain portion of the harvest, than at a 
fized annual valuation. 



57 



CHAP. VI. 



Solar- dials. — Water- Clocks. — Clepsydrm.— Divisions of 
the day and night. — Vigils of the Romans and the 
Jews. — -Ancient division of the year. — Intercalary 
Months. — Julian Fear. — New Style.— Kalends, J\°ones, 

and Ides r — * Computation by Weeks. Festivals.— 

Superstition. — Augurs. — Aruspices. — Astrologers.— 
Pontiffs. — Friests. — Vestals. — Religion. 

Rome had existed four hundred and sixty years 
ere its inhabitants distinguished any other divisions 
of the day than morning, noon, and night. The 
laws of the twelve tables only mention the rising and 
the setting of the sun^ and it was not until some 
years after their promulgation, that the meridian was 
proclaimed from the Senate-house, on those days 
when the sun's height could be ascertained by actual 
observation. 

Pliny ^ tells us, on the faith of an ancient histori- 
an, that the first instrument used by the Romans for 
the measurement of time was a solar dial, which the 
Censor L. Papirius Cursor placed in the perch of 
the temple of Quirinus, twelve years before the war 
with Pyrrhus. Bit he seems to doubt the accuracy 
of that account, and prefers that of Varrq, who at- 
tributes its introduction to M, Valerius Messala, 



*PUn % Hist. Nat, 1. vii, c 6& 



5S 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



and says, that it was brought from Sicily in the year 
of Rome, 477, and was fixed on a pillar of the Ros- 
tra, during the first Punic war. Although this dial, 
being calculated for a different meridian, couldnot 
mark the time with precision at Rome, it was not 
the less conformed to during an entire century, until 
Q. Marcus Philippus, who was Censor along with 
Paulus Eniilius, erected one more correct; and of 
all the acts of his censorship it v/as that which ob- 
tained him the greatest applause, A few years af- 
terwards, in 595, Scipio Nasica exhibited a water- 
clock, which ascertained the hours during the night 
as well as the day. 

Vitruvius^ attributes the invention of water- clocks 
to Ctesihius, a native of Alexandria, who lived in 
the time of the two first Ptolemies. To form an 
idea of them, we must imagine a basin filled with 
water, which was emptied in twelve hours, by means 
of a small hole in the bottom, into another ves- 
sel of equal capacity, in which the water rose by de- 
grees around a column on which the hours were 
marked perpendicularly. They were usually orna- 
mented with a small figure, made of cork, which 
floated on the surface, and pointed to the charac- 
ters on the column. These clocks differed from those 
which the ancients denominated clepsydrce; which con- 
sisted of a glass, of a pyrmidal, or conic form, per- 
forated at the base, and which, being filled with a 
liquid, denoted the time, as it subsided by means of 
lines traced on the sides. The Romans made use of 
both, vvtth several slight varieties of construction 
and terrne i them night-clocks, and winter-clocks, in 
contradistinction to the dials, which wtre useless 
during die night, and of but little service, in winter,, 
during the day. They were whoi.lv unacquainted 
with the clocks at present in use, and many ages, 
passed before the art of constructing them was dia? 



*Vitvuv* 4§ JlvGhitegt, L i%. o, 3, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



59 



covered. Both the period and the inventor are un- 
certain: some authors attribute the idea to an Arch- 
deacon of Verona, named Pacificus, who died in 
846; others to the Monk Geroert, who became Pope 
in the year 999, by the title of Silvester II.; and oth- 
ers again, insist that nothing positive can be ascer- 
tained on the subject. Among the latter, Professor 
Beckmann, whose authority is entitled to the greatest 
attention, ascribes the invention to the eleventh cen- 
tury, and seems inclined to confer the honor of it on 
the Saracens. 

In families of distinction, slaves were kept pur- 
posely to attend to the clocks, and report the hour. 
It has been supposed that from this custom was de- 
rived that of watchmen announcing the time of night, 
which prevails throughout a great part of Europe; 
but it does not any where appear that such was the 
public practice in Rome. 

The ancient Romans divided the day and night 
into twelve hours each, counting from the rising to 
the setting of the sun, without distinction of sea- 
son; the hours of the day were, therefore, longer 
than those of the night in summer, and shorter in 
winter, and could only be equal during the Equi- 
nox.^ The first hour of the morning commencing at 
sunrise, the sixth was noon, and the twelfth sunset; 
night then began, and the sixth hour was midnight. 
This division of time originated with the Babyloni- 
ans, from whom the Geeeks first received, and the 
Romans, in imitation of them, afterwards adopted 
it. But, under the emperors, they began to perceive 
that it was inconvenient; and the manner, now in 
use, of counting the twenty-four hours in two equal 
divisions, from midnight to midnight, was gradually 
introduced. It appears that it was already estabiish- 

*"Equinox" At this period of the year, the Roman hours 
would answer to our own in the following 1 manner: 
Roman, - - i. ii. iii. iv, v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. 
English, - vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. i. ii. iii. iv. v. vL 



60 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



edin the reign of Hadrian; and it has been general- 
ly adopted throughout Europe, with the exception 
of Italy, where they count the hours in succession, 
without any division, from the setting of the sun. 

The day was, besides, divided into four equal 
parts, and the night into as many watches. The di- 
visions of the day were distinguished by the number 
of the hour at which each commenced: the first 
watch of the night, beginning at sunset, was termed 
evening'; the second, midnight; the third, cockcrow- 
ing; and the fourth, the time of silence. Mention is 
made of these vigils in the New Testament — in 
Luke xii. 38.— Mutt. xiv. 28- — and in Mark xiii. 
35. where our Saviour, recommending his disciples 
to watch and pray, says — "zvatch ye therefore; for 
ye knew not when the master of the house cometh, 
at even, or ai midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or 
in the morning." — But the Old Testament, although 
it speaks of the first, second, and third watch, no 
where alludes to a fourth; for the Jews only divided 
the night into three, and they borrowed the division 
of it into four from the Romans; from whom they 
also took the method of reckoning twelve hours to 
the day, and the same number to the night. 

Tne year was first arranged in parts by Romulus: 
it then consisted of only ten lunar months, commenc- 
ing with March — Martius, so called from Mars, his 
supposed father. It is imagined that April— Aprilis^ 
took its name from a Greek appellation of Venus; 
May-— Mains, from Maia the mother of Mercury; 
and June— Junius, from the goddess Juno. The 
others were called, from the order in which they oc- 
curred, Shuntilis, Sextilis, September, October, No- 
vember, and December; but Quintiiis was afterwards 
changed to Julius — July, in honour of Julius Caesar, 
and Sextilis to Augustus — August, in that of the 
emperor of that name. Numa divided it into twelve 
lunar months, and added January — Januarius, 
which he so named after the god Janus, and Febru- 
ary — Februarius—thtn the last month — from a sa- 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gj 

crifice termtd Februalia, which was performed at 
that period in expiation of the sins of the entire 
year. But, as this mode of division did not corres- 
pond with the course of the sun, he ordained that an 
intercalary month should be added every other \ear. 
His intention was, that it should consist ot a number 
of days equal to the difference between the lunar 
months and the solar year; but, the intercalation be- 
ing entrusted to the Pontiffs, they, rrom interested 
motives, used to insert fewer, or more days, and 
thus made the current year shorter or longer, as best 
suited the views oi those among their friends whose 
employments in the service of the state terminated 
along with it; in consequence of which irregularity, 
the months were, in process of time, transposed 
from their proper seasons, and the termination of 
the year became uncertain. To remedy this abuse, 
Julius Caesar abolished the intercalary month; and, 
with the assistance of Sosigents, a skiliui astrono- 
mer of Alexandria, he, in the year of Rome 707 9 
arranged the year according to the course of the 
sun, commencing with the first ot January, and as- 
signed to each month the number of days which they 
still retain. This is the celebrated jfulian, or solar 
year, which has been since maintained, without any 
other alteration than that of the new style, introduc- 
ed by Pope Gregory A. D. 1582, and adopted in 
England in 1752; when eleven days were dropped 
between the 2d and 14th of September; by which 
means the error in the original calculation was cor- 
rected: and a repetition oi it is guarded against for 
a long period of the future, by the insertion of one 
intercalary day in every fourth, or leap-year.* 

%"Leap year' 9 As the error in the Julian year was not quite 
six hours, the intercalation of a day in every fourth year cannot 
rectify the error with precision; but, as the difference is only 
about three quarters of an hour in four years, more than a cen- 
tury must elapse ere it can amount to an entire day; and then, 
that error will be rectified by omitting the intercalation in one 

leap-year. 

G 



$g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

Great praise is given, and is, unquestionably, emi- 
nently due to the astronomers who regulated the 
Gregorian year, and they who are best acquainted 
with the abstruseness of the requisite calculations 
will most highly appreciate the value of their la- 
bours. But when we consider the probable imper- 
fection of all mathematical instruments in the time of 
Sosigenes, and the total want of telescopes, we can- 
not but view with admiration, not unmixed with as- 
tonishment, that comprehensive genius which, in the 
infancy of science, could surmount such difficulties, 
and arrange a system that succeeding ages have only 
been able to improve, but not to alter. 

The Roman months were divided into three parts, 
by days denominated Kalends, Nones> and Ides. 
They commenced with the Kalends: the Nones oc- 
curred on the 5th, and the Ides on the 1 3th; except 
in March, May, July, and October, when they fell 
on the Tth and lath, The days were counted back- 
wards in their respective divisions: thus, the 2d of 
the month was termed the fourth of the Kalends; 
the 6th, the eighth of the Nones: and the 14th, the 
eighteenth of the Ides; except in those months al- 
ready particularized, when the 2d was the sixth of 
the Kalends, and the 8th the eighth of the Nones; 
and in those other, in which a variation in th^ir 
length occasioned a corresponding alteration in the 
number of the Ides. 

The manner of reckoning b) weeks was not intro- 
duced until late in the second century of the Chris- 
tian aera: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, and 
the days were named after the planets, which ap- 
pellations they still partially retain in the modern 
languages. Previous to that period, every ninth 
day was called JMundinum, and was devoted to pub- 
lic business; but there does not appear to have been 
any term to denote the intermediate space. 

The public festivals were numerous, and being all 
considered as sacred from labour, were extremely 
detrimental to the interests of the state. To these, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gg 

the veneration in which the Romans held their an- 
cestors, induced them to add many private commem- 
orations, which were equally observed as holidays; and 
their superstition prevented them from engaging in 
any undertaking on those days which, being deemed 
unfortunate, were marked black in the kalenclar: 
thus, a great portion of the year was either consumed 
in religious ceremonies, or wasted in idleness, with 
but little advantage to the morals, and deeply to the 
prcju lice of the fortunes of the people. 

The Romtns were, indeed, so strongly tainted 
with superstition, that many circumstances evincing 
it are recorded of their most eminent men. Their 
most judicious historians have not scrupled to record 
accounts of dreams and apparitions: and we find 
among the correspondence of even the enlighten -d 
younger Pliny, a letter in which he gravely asks the 
opinion of a friend, regarding the existence of ghosts; 
adding his own belief in it: founded on some stories 
which he relates with -almost childish credulity. 
Amongst others, equally absurd, he tells of a house 
at Athens that had the reputation of "being haunted. 
In the dead of night, a noise resembling the clanking 
of chains was heard, and it was said, that a spectre 
walked through it, in the form of a ghastly old man 
with a long beard and dishevelled hair, and loadtd 
with irons. The terrified inhabitants passed their 
nights, in such restless horror, that they at length fell 
victims to their fears, and the dwelling vyas abandoned 
to the ghost. It happened, at this time, that Athen- 
odorus the philosopher arrived at Athens. When 
nothing intimidated at the imputatiorvon the house, 
and no doubt getting it a bargain, he hired it; and 
prepared himself to receive the visit of its grim occu- 
pant, whom he awaited, with great composure, in his 
study. The spectre did not disappoint him: punctualto 
his hour, he -appeared in all his terrors, and beckoned to 
the philosopher to attend him. Hr then stalked slow- 
ly away, and Athenodorus, after a little hesitation? 



64 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



followed into the court, where the apparition suddenly 
vanished; but on digging up the spot where it dis- 
appeared, the skeleton of a man in chains was found. 
The hones were then collected, and publicly buried, 
and the ghost being thus appeased, the philosopher 
was*left in quiet possession.^ 

Our surprise at a weakness so inconsistent with 
th: general strength of mind which they displayed, 
will however be much lessened, if we reflect, that it 
was no less the constitution of their government, than 
the genius of their religion, to countenance a belief 
in omens; which were invariably consulted previous 
to the adoption of any important resolution, whether 
of a public or domestic nature. This gave rise to 
the institution of the College of Augurs, composed 
of fifteen members, whose duty it was to interpret 
dreams, oracles, and prodigies, and to foretell events 
by the conclusions they drew from their observation 
of the flight of birds. It was an oiSce of great dig- 
nity, held by persons of the highest rank; and though 
doubtless originating in mere superstitious credulity, 
it was probably continued from motives of policy, 
to augment the ascendency of men in power over the 
minds of the people. The omens they condescended 
to notice, were frequently not only of the most trifling, 
but even ridiculous nature. Without attempting the 
endless task of enumerating them, it may be sufficient 
to observe, that, during war, no general took the 
field without being accompanied by a sacred brood 
of chickens, from the feeding of which were drawn 
the most important presages. 

There was also a minor class of professors in the 
science of divination, styled Aruspices, whose pre- 
dictions were guided by remarks on the palpitating 
entrails of newly slaughtered victims, and the cir- 
cumstances attending sacrifices. Besides these, there 
was a crowd of pretended astrologers, distinguished 

*Plin. Epist* L vii. ep. SB 8 . 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. fl£ 

bv different appellations according to the particular 
brancn in which they affected to excel; and it is a 
curious fact, that, even in those days, the principal 
forttftie- tellers were Egyptians. 

Although the Augur an I the Aruspex both assisted 
at some religious cerem mics, yet they cannot cor- 
rectly be said to have belonged to the priesthood; 
which was only composed of two orders, the pontiffs, 
and the ministers of the temples. 

The Pontiffs were the dignitaries of the Roman 
Hierarchy. fney presided over every thing apper- 
taining to the pu )lic worship; and collectively, formed 
a tribunal entitled the Cillege of Pontiff s^ which held 
jurisdiction over ail offences against religion, and 
possessed an authority that extended, in some cases, 
to the power of inflicting capital punishment. Their 
tiu noer was at first limited to four, but was after- 
wards gradually extended, and it is uncertain of how 
many the college at last consisted. It was presided 
bv a superior, styled the Pontifex maximus, the 
dignity of whose office was so great, that it was at 
length assumed by the emperors; and although we 
may conclude that the duties annexed to it had ceased 
in the time of the Christian sovereigns, yet the 
title was continued by them until the reign of Theo- 
dosius. 

Tne minor order, or Priests of the Temples^ 
were those whose services were dedicated to some 
particular god, whom they worshipped with rites that 
were peculiar to each. They were distinguished by 
various titles appropriate to the deity they served; 
but the high- priest of each was called Flamen, and 
his office, especially if devoted to one of the superi- 
or divinities, was one of high rank; of these the 
Flam^n of Jupiter was the most eminent, and it 
appears that his wife participated in some of his sac- 
red functions. It was essential to the sacerdotal 
character to be without bodily defect; wherefore a 
priest who was maimed, even through accident, coul& 

G-2. 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

no longer officiate. But history has not acquainted 
us whether there was any particular form of education 
for those destined to the priesthood, or any fixed 
age at which they were admitted; nor in what man- 
ner their services were afterwards remunerated: and 
we can only gather from the unconnected accounts 
of various authors, that they were expected to be 
persons of pure morals, and respectable family, and 
that somr provision was certainly made lor them. 

The prk stesses ol Vesta,-— more generally known 
by the appellation of Vestal Virgins, — were the 
guardians of the Penates of the Roman people^ and 
of the sacred fire that was preserved in the temple 
of the goddess. The motive for maintaining it 
is now unknown, but whatever may have been the 
superstition in which it originated, it was of the 
most remote antiquity, as the fire is supposed to have 
been brought with the Penates from Troy; to which 
tradition Virgil distinctly alludes in that part of the 
iEaeid where the ghost of Hector warns iEneas to 
depart: — 

"Now Troy to thee commends her future state, 
And gives her gods companions of thy fate: 
From their assistance happier walls expect, 
Which, wandering 1 long-, at last thou shalt erect — " 
He said, and brought me from their bless'd abodes. 
The venerable statues of the gods, 
With ancient Vesta from the sacred choir, 
The wreaths and relics of the 'immortal fire? 

Dryden, b. iL 

This venerated deposit was guarded with pious care 
throughout every revolution of the commonwealth; 
the holy flame was annually renewed from the rays 
of the sun, and if extinguished through anv accident 
it was viewed as an omen of unfortunate portent. 
The vestals enjoyed many valuable privileges and 
Were regarded with distinguished respect. They 
were only six in number, and were selected by the 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. fly 

pontifex maximus, with the consent of their parents^ 
at any age from six until sixteen. They were only 
bound to their ministry during the term of thirty 
years, at the expiration of which they Were- at liberty 
to leave the tern pie, and marry; but if, <luring that 
period, they infringed the vow of chastity taken by 
them on their admission into the order, they were 
entombed alive. A deep subterraneous sepukhre, 
was furnished with a couch, a lamp, a pitcher of 
water, and a loaf: into this the unfortunate victim 
was made to descend, while funeral rites were per- 
formrd over her, and, on their awtui termination, it 
was closed, never to be re -opened. The paramour 
was scourged to death. 

The religion of the Romans consisted in unbound- 
ed polytheism. Every virtue, and even every vice; 
every real property of the material#and every fancied 
quality of the im tginary world; every faculty of the 
mind and power of the body, was presided by its 
peculiar deitv. Not only did they adore those ideal 
beings which they clothed with the majesty of su- 
preme power, but every sage who by his writings or 
ex-tmple had contributed to the instruction, and every 
hero who had signalized himself in the service of 
his countrv, was elevated to the dignity of the god- 
head; and no mountain, grove, or stream, was with- 
out its attendant divinity. Thus their mythologv 
was composed of an heterogeneous mixture of celes- 
ti d beings, as various in their attributes as the ele- 
ments, the passions, and the prejudices which they 
represented. Their liberality extended to the ad- 
mission, also, of the gods of every other form of 
heathen worship; and every religious sect was toler- 
ated at Rome, except the Christians and the Jews t 
who were persecuted with unrelenting severitv until 
the mild precepts of the gospel triumphed over the 
superstitions of paganism. The various sects of 
philosophers had, indeed, long agreed in rejecting 
alike the tenets of revealed religion^ and the wild 



g.g DOMESTIC MANNERS, &c, 

theories of the multitude, with all the fabled divinities 
of thtir celestial hierarclw: but while they affected 
to admit of no guide but that of natural rectitude, 
their principles accorded in no point of morality, 
and afforded no settled rule of conduct. Until, at 
length, the truths of Christianity prevailed over this 
chaos of conflicting opinions, and, after a lapse of 
more than a thousand years from the foundation of 
the city, it was established as the religion of th© 
state. ^ 



* A. D.311 



69 



CHAP. VII. 



Morning ^vocations. — Temples. — Private Oratories.— 
Chapel of Alexander Sever us — Mode of Worship — 
Scipio. — Visits — Remuneration to Attendants. — Gen* 
eral Business —Candidates for office — Nomenc tutors. 
— Mode of Salutation. — Breakfast and Dinner. 

So various are the tastes and passions, and so much 
are the habits of life governed by them, that an at- 
tempt to depict the aberrations from the established 
usages of society would become an endless task, and 
is more properly the province of the drama, or of 
the satirist, than of a brief essay like the present. 
Neither can we undertake a description of the customs 
of every class in ancient Rome, but chiefly confining 
ourselves to that middle order becween the great patri- 
cian and the plebeian, we shall endeavour to follow 
those men, who, without being devoted to ambition, 
were not without weight in- the commonwealth; who, 
without abandoning themselves to dissipation, set a 
just value on the pleasures of society; and who, 
equally attentive to the interests of their families, 
and to those of the state, divided their time between 
the occupations of business, and the duties, or re- 
laxation, of private life. 

Persons of this rank employed the first part of the 
morning in the duties of religion, The temples were 
opened before the dawn, and were lighted up tor the 
convenience of those whom either devotion or ne- 
cessity induced to visit them at that early hour. It 
would h tve been considered profane to have com- 
menced the common ^vocations ot the day until this 



Sr^ 



yg DOMESTIC MANNERS ANB 

obligation had been fulfilled; and we may collect 
from a passage in the iEneid, that the first blush of 
morn was consecrated to the matins of the pious: — 

"Wake son of Venus, from thy pleasing dreams: 
And, -when the setting stars are lost in day> 
To Juno's power thy just devotion pay." 

/lyden, book viiL 
in adoration, 
and invocation by public and private prayer; in 
offerings of incense and perfumes; and hymns chanted 
in their praise, to the sound of musical instruments, 
by young persons, of both sexes, chosen from among 
the first families. They who could not attend at 
the temples, fulfilled this duty in their private oratory; 
where the* rich offered sacrifices, and the poor, vows 
and supplication. Prayers were also offered in the 
evening; but only to the infernal gods, who divided 
the respect of the Romans with the celestial deities. 
The privacy in which the household gods were 
worshipped, rendered it incumbent on those families 
who could aff >rd it, to have a crutpel in their dwel- 
ling house for the solemnization \ of their peculiar 
rites. The Emperor Alexander S verus had two in 
his palace, where the diff rent objects of his vener- 
ation were divided into distinct classes; the one 
dedicated to Virtue, the other to Talents. The first 
contained the statues of the good in every rank, 
and of every faith, who, by their precepts or exam- 
ple, might be considered as benefactors to mankind: 
among these, Orpheus, — Abraham,- — AppoUoruus of 
Tyanes — and Our Saviour, Jesus Christ * were, by 
him, equally adored: an incongruous assemblage, 
but one from which we may infer an inclination in 
that prince to honour virtue in what ver garb he 
might find it. The second was reserved for the 



* "Jesus Christ." The Emperor Tiberius ordered that oue 
Saviour should be enrolled among the Itowan gods; but the senate 
refused obedience to the mandate, / 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. y i 

illustrious in arms, or in the arts, — Achilles, — Alex- 
ander the Greats — Cicero,— Virgil, and other cele- 
brated personages. 

While the priest pronounced the pravers, the as- 
sistants recited them, standing, their faces turned to- 
wards the east, and envelopped in their mantles, lest 
their attention should be distracted by any object of 
ill omen. They invoked the gods by name, and to 
avoid the possibility of mistake, they were accus- 
tomed to add — "whether thou art god, or goddess." 
Whilst praying, they touched the altar with their 
fingers, then carried the hand to their lips, and af- 
terwards extended it towards the image of the god, 
ot which they also embraced the knees, which were 
considered as the symbols of mercy. Their devo- 
tions lasted a considerable time; generally more than 
an hour; but we must be cautious how we thence 
infer that they were actuated by sincere piety. Had 
they been satisfied with praying, according to the 
well known adage of Juvenal, for ^'health of body, 
and of mind," their orisons would probably have 
been shorter; but the t number of real md imaginary 
wants which they hoped to supply, and the vaiious 
gods whom they were obliged to propitiate, according 
to each separate necessity, occasioned a tedious series 
of ceremonies, from which those who are satisfied 
with adoring the Creator in spirit, and in truth, are 
exempt. Seneca asserts,* that the folly of some 
went so far as to supplicate the gods for success in 
pursuits which they would have blushed to acknowl- 
edge to their fellow-men; and Horace has left a lively 
description of this species of hypocrisy: — 

Your honest man, on whom with awful praise, 

The forum, and the courts of justice gaze, 

If e'er he make a public sacrifice, 



* Seneca^ ep. 10. There is not, amongst all the valuable 
writings of this great philosopher, a finer precept than that with. 
which this epistle is concluded: — " Sic vive cum hominibus, tant 
quam D eus videat; sic loquere cum Deo, tanquam homines audian 



.*yg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

"Dread Janus! Phoebus!" clear and loud he cries — 
But when his pray'r in earnest is preferr'd, 
Scarce move his lips, afraid of being heard: 

"Beauteous Laverna!* my petition hear! 

"Let me with truth and sanctity appear. 

"Oh! give me to deceive, and with a veil 

"Of darkness, and of night, my crimes conceal." 

Francis, b. i. ep. 16. 

Ambition and avarice, indeed, had frequently the 
greatest share in their apparent zea^ and religion 
was top often but a cloak to cov-r more secret motives. 
Livy assures us.f that P. Scipio acquired his great 
reputation, not su much by the talents and virtues 
which he really possessed, as by the address with 
which he persuaded the people of his superior sanc- 
tity. From his first introduction into society he was 
careful never to perform any public act without first 
passing a considerable tune m the temple, in med- 
itation and prayer. This rule, thus early prescribed 
to himself, he closely adhered to through life; and 
might have obtained credit with posterity lor sincerity, 
had he not pretended to be inspired in all he under- 
took by dreams and apparitions, or by revelations 
from the gods themselves: a superstition to which 
he could not have been himseli the dupe, and which, 
therefore, at once betrays his artifice. 

On leaving the temple, the business of the day 
began, and amongst its most important duties was 
that of paying visits. 

The great have ever been courted by their inferi- 
ors; but in Rome, during the time of the emperors 
particularly, adulation became a system, and flattery 
a s ience. In the early period of their history, when 
equality reigned among the people, their manners 
were frank, though coarse, partaking of their occu- 
pations as soldiers and husbandmen. But as wealth 
and population increased, and civilization advanced, 



* "Laverna" the goddess of rogues and thieves, 
f Tit. Liv, 1. 26. c. 19. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS, yg 

uew distinctions arose in society; luxury gave birth 
to wants which agriculture alone could not supply; 
and necessity rendered the inferior, classes submissive 
and respectful, while the interests of ambition, which 
were dependent on popularity, made the patricians 
affable. Towards the close of the republic, litera- 
ture, ind an intercourse with the Greeks — then the 
most polished nation of the world, carried the, 4 urban- 
ity ot Roman manners to the highest point of perfec- 
tion: but influenced at length by the effeminacy of 
the Orientals, enervated by voluptuousness, and cor- 
rupted by a venal government, they insensibly de- 
clined; and degenerated, before the fall of the em- 
pire, into fawning servility on the one part, and over- 
bearing arrogance on the other. 

It then became an indispensable duty to attend the 
levee, every morning, of those to whom they were, 
or wished to appear, attached. • The citizen, — not 
untrequently the magistrate, — ran from door to door 
to pay court to some great man, who, in his turn, 
rendered the same homage to another, and all Rome 
was one common scene of the interchange of civil- 
ity, — and insincerity. Pliny the younger calls these 
visits " devoirs before the dawn"— and Juvenal de- 
scribes them as made at so early an hour that the 
yawning visitants had not time to arrange their dress. 
If they were inconvenient to those who paid, we may 
safely conclude that they were scarcely less so to 
those who received them, and Martial complains of 
a nobleman who evaded his.f 



' Devoirs before tlie daion .*" " Officia antelucana." — 

Plin. Epist. 1. iii. ep. 12. 
-Go now, supremely blest, 



Enjoy the meed for which you broke your rest, 
And loose and slipshod* ran your vows to pay, 
What time the fading* stars announced the day; 
Or at an earlier, when with slow roll, 
Thy frozen wain Bootes, turn'd the pole; 

H 



y<y DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

The authors just cited lived under the Emperors 
Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan: but similar visits were 
made in the time of the republic; with this difference, 
however, that their only object then was to show re- 
spect to rank and virtue. Cicero frequently men- 
tions them; and his own apartments were filled, every 
morning, with a multitude of citizens, amongst whom 
were many of the most distinguished patricians. 

The clients assembled in the atrium of their patron, 
which was usually ornamented with the busts and 
statues of his ancestors. There they amused them- 
selves in conversation until he chose to make his ap- 
pearance, or they were informed that he had eluded 
their attentions, or could not receive them; but it he 
Went out in public, they surrounded his chair, and 
thus accompanied him both going and returning. 
This retinue was at length considered by the great 
as a necessary appendage to their rank, and they sel- 
dom appeared abroad without a numerous train of 
slaves, freedmen, and clients: a costly species of van- 
ity; for so much had the original connexion between 
patron and client then degenerated, that those who 
were not slaves were paid for their attendance. In- 
deed, if Juvenal does not belie them, even men of 
rank stooped to gratify their avarice by swelling the 
pomp of this pageant, for which they received a 
gratuity in money, contemptuously denominated 
sportula* a term applied to portions of victuals dis- 
tributed at the houses of patricians to their needy re- 
tainers. This dole was given in lieu of a supper, to 



Yet trembling 1 , lest the levee should be o'er, 
And the full court retiring 1 from the door ! 

GiffordTs Juvenal, sat. v. 

Since your return to Rome I five times went 
To wish you well, and pay my compliment; 
" Busy, not up," hath been my answer still : 
Adieu ! you will not let me wish you well. 

Hay's Martial, b. ix. epig\ 8, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 75 

v/hich the attendant clients were usually invited in 
former times, ere solid hospitality had been superse- 
ded by ostentation and empty pomp: it was estab- 
lished by law, and could therefore be demanded as 
a right; and it appear?, from some passages in the sa- 
tirists of the day, that its distribution gave rise to 
frequent contention among the applicants, and to 
some whimsical artifice to secure a double portion; — 

Now, at the gate, a paltry largess lies, 

And eager hands and tongues dispute the prize. 

But first (lest some false claimant should be found,) 

The wary steward takes his anxious round, 

And pries in every face; then calls aloud, 

" Come forth ye great Dardanians,* from the crowd 1" 

For, mix'd with us, e'en these besiege the door, 

And scramble for — the pittance of the poor! 

" Despatch the Prater first," the master cries, 

" And next the Tribune" f No, not so;' replies 

The freedman, bustling through, ( first come is, still, 

' First serv'd; and I may claim my right, and will 1' 

Wedged in thick ranks before the donor's gates, 

A phalanx firm, of chairs and litters, waits: 

Thither one husband, at the risk of life, 

Humes his teeming 1 , or. his bedrid wife; 

Another, practised in the gainful art, 

With deeper cunning tops the beggar's part; 

Plants at his side a close and empty chair: 

" My galla-master; — give me galla's share." 

' Galla!' the porter cries; Met her look out.' 

V Sir, she's asleep. Nay, give me; — can you doubt!" 

Gifford^e Juvenal, sat. i. 
The sum usually given did not exceed twenty pence 
of our money: and when we consider that those who 
claimed it were far from belonging to the very lowest 
class of society, it Serves to exhibit a large proportion 



* " Ye great Dardanians" " The old nobility of Rome affec- 
ed to derive their ongm from the great families of Troy " 

Giford 



yg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

of the citizens in a very degraded state; and affords 
a convincing proof, that Rome, in its greatest splendor 
and apparent prosperity, was the abode of much real 
want and misery.* 

These visits occupied the early part of the mor- 
ning, after the devotions in the temples: hut although 
the custom was general with those who had an ob- 
ject to attain by it, there were others, who, more 
independent, or having more important avocations to 
attend, did not make such a sacrifice of their time. 
Many of the knights were bankers; others acted in 
the capacity of notaries, making, and keeping a re- 
gister of, contracts, deeds, and other legal instruments; 
and the common business* of life. — the maintenance 
and advancement of themselves and families, — then, 
as now, occupied the attention of the mass of the 
population. There were occasions, however, on 
which the motive for this personal attendance was 
equally amiable and disinterested. When any dis- 
tinguished magistrate, or officer, returned from the 
provinces, or the amy, crowds went from the city to 
meet and welcome him; then they conducted him to 
his house, the avenues to which were previously or- 
namented with garlands of flowers: and on leaving 
the city for. a foreign command, a simitar escort al- 
ways attended. The same custom was ptevalent in 
private life: no person, however humble his station, 
commenced a journey without being accompanied on 
a part of it by some of his family and friends put- 
ting up prayers* for his safety and success: nor re- 
turned without being greeted with equal cordiality. 

In consequence of the frequent changes in the ma- 



* " Sportula" Pliny mentions, that, in the province of which 
he was governor, it was customary, on celebrating- a family fes- 
tivity, to invite the whole senate, (i. e. the provincial senate,) with 
a cons, durable part of the commonalty, to a feast, and to dis- 
tribute io each of the company, a dole of about fifteen-pence. 
He adds, that so many as a thousand persons sometimes partook 
©f this bounty. JE*lin. EpisU 1. x* ep. 117„ 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. yy 

gistracy, the canvassing for votes was reduced to a 
regular system, and some persons were almost con- 
stantly so employed during the forenoon. Candi- 
dates for office were accompanied by the ir clients, 
friends, and relatives, who recommended them, even 
in the public streets, to those of their acquaintance by 
whom they were met. And, as it was a mark of 
politeness among the Romans, as well as the Greeks, 
to salute every one by their names and titles, and yet 
quite impossible for candidates to recollect those of 
all the strangers to whom they might be introduced, 
they were usually attended by slaves, whose duty it 
was to refresh their memory. Those who aspired 
to offices of rank in the state kept such slaves con- 
stantly about them; they were called Nomenclators* 
and their sole occupation was to inform themselves 
of the names, fortune, rank, and connexions, of the 
citizens of any note; to be familiar with their per- 
sons; and, when they met them in the streets, to 
whisper their intelligence to their master, that he 
might be enabled to address them with the familiarity 
of an acquaintance; — an extreme of affability which, 
however it may appear to approach adulation, was 
the almost necessary consequence of a form of govern- 
ment which vested the nomination to all public em- 
ployments in the people. 

In saluting, the hand first touched the lips, and 
was then advanced towards the person saluted in the 
same manner as to the gods. Sometimes, as a m^rfc 
of extraordinary respect, they kissed the hand of the 
person saluted. Men in the armv merely lowen d 
their arms. But none of these salutations were ac- 
co npanied bv any inclination of the body until long 
afte> the decline of the republic. 

The ThirS Hour, corresponding with our nine in 
the morning, was dedicated to the business of the 
courts of law, except on those days which religion 
had consecrated to repose, or which were destined 



% 6( J\ % QmencIators:" — Vide Horat.X i. ep. 6^ 

Ha 



yg. DOMESTIC MANNERS, &c, 

to vhe more important meeting of the general assem- 
bly. Wnen the public attention was not occupied^ 
euher with affairs of state in the assembly, or great 
trials in the courts, — which however, was rarely the 
case alter Home became possessed of the provinces 
of which her # vast empire was composed^ — the Thirds 
Fourth, and Fifth Hoars, were usually past in con- 
versation in the porticos and forum: the measures 
bf government were freely discussed,, and, as there 
were no laws to repress opinion, men in power were 
Dot spared when their conduct merited censure. 
Tiberius was the first who regarded animadversions 
on the government as criminal. Surrounded by spies, 
and informers, who nourished his suspicions, and in- 
flamed his jealousy of the public opinion, nothing 
was indifferent to that tyrant: a word spoken in jest, 
or in the freedom and confidence of private conver- 
sation, was often construed as seditious; and no man, 
however guarded in his conduct, was secure against 
the misinterpretation of his actions, or the malevo- 
lence of false, and secret information. 

At length the Sixth Hour^ or noon, arrived; when 
every one returned to his home, and partook of a 
slight and unceremonious.dinner, to which guests 
were very rarely invited. They afterwards retired 
for a short time to sleep: a custom which prevails to 
this dav in Italy and Spain, although the early ri- 
sing, which rendered it in some measure necessary 
to the Ramans, can no longer be pleaded by the mid- 
dle and higher ord^r of their descendants. 

Previous to the third hour, some trifling refresh- 
ment was taken; but breakfast was not, as with us, 
a social meal; it was eaten by each separately, with* 
out regard to form, and at no settled hou£. 



79 



CHAP. VIII. 



Amusements of the Afternoon — Tennis — Dancing.—* 
Athletic Snorts.— Bowing. — the Circus — Charcot and 
Horse Races — The Gestatio — Mode of jiidirig.— 
Horses. — Carriages. — Porticos. * 



The morning having been thus passed in the dif- 
ferent put suns which engaged each person sepa- 
rately, — in the temples, the palaces, the courts, and 
public places, or in the more laborious duties or lite, 
— the afternoon was generally devoted to amuse- 
ment. Some there no doubt were, who, more assid- 
uous than o hers, continued their labours to a later 
hour; but they were few; and we may judge how 
little their example was followed, from the circum- 
stance, that both Horace and Seneca mention the 
senator Asinius Pollio with particular respect, as one 
more than ordinarily diligent, because he attended to 
business until the tenth hour, four o'clock; but that 
time once passed, he would not even open a letter, 
lest it should occasion him further occupation. 

The space between noon and the usual hour for 
supper was employed, first, as we have already seen, 
in taking refreshment and repose, and aiterwards, 
in various kinds of exercise — on foot, on horseback, 
and in carriages— in active sports, and at the bath. 

Amongst the active amusements, Tennis took the 
lead: not merely as a pastime for youth, but as the 
relaxation of the gravest, as well as the most distin- 
guished men. Suetonius mentions it, in his life of 
Augustus, as one of the diversions of that prince^ 
Valerius Maximus rektes > that the celebrated Jurist 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

S< sevola was in the habit of amusing himself with 
It after the fatigues of the forum; and Plutarch ob- 
serves that the very day on which Cato of Utica 
lost his election to the dignity of consul, he went 
as usual to the tennis court, although such days wt re 
usually passed in mourning by the unsuccessful 
candidates and their friends, Maecenes is also men- 
tioned as attached to this diversion; Pliny the younger 
alludes to it with evident satisfaction; and, in short, 
it was so much in vogue, that few country houses 
were without a court attached to them for that pur- 
pose, and in the city, the public courts were nume- 
rous. But the game does not appear to have been 
played, like modern tennis, with a racquet, instead 
of which the hand was furnished with a gauntlet: 
neither were its rules quite similar./^ 

There were various other games of ball, some of 
which were played in the manner of our English 
Fives, arid Football; and one — Harpastum, which 
seems to have resembled the common Irish game of 
Hurling: the players were divided into two sets, equi- 
distant from a line drawn between them, and behind 
each there was another line which formed the bounds! 
the ball was placed in the centre, and the contention 
consisted in forcing it over the boundary line of the 
opponent. 

The great Sripio Africanus amused himself with 
dancing; "not" as Seneca says, "those eff minate 
dances which announce voluptuousness and corruption 
of manners; but those manlv, animated dances in use 
among their ancestors, which even their enemies might 
witness without abating their respect /"f It is to be 
regretted that Seneca was not more precise in his de- 
scription, as they probablv differed materially from 
the waltz and the quadrille of the present day. 



* " Tennis " Suet on. in Vit. August. — Voter. JkTax. 1 -viii. c. 8.— » 
Pint, m Cat. Min. — Horat 1. i. sat. 5 —Plin, Epwt* h V. ep. 6.— 
Tide Chap. v. 

t Seneca de Tmnq. An, c. IS* 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



81 



The young men were chiefly engaged in athletic 
sports, in a large plain by the side of the Tiber, called 
the Campus Martius; or in public schools, severally 
termed Gymnasium and Palestra, where they were 
instructed in riding, driving, and the various military 
exercises. Boxing, wrestling, and throwing tht Dis- 
cus^ or quoit, held a prominent share in their amuse- 
ments; but chariot driving took the lead before all 
others. 

When boxing took a more serious turn, it became 
a contest of much greater danger than the modern 
pugilistic battles. The combatants wore gloves loaded 
with metal, and the issue of tw the fight" was often 
fatal to one or both of them. 



-"he threw 



Two ponderous gauntlets down in open view — 
Gauntlets, which Eryx wont in fight to wield, 
And sheath his hands with, in the listed field. 
With fear and wonder seiz'd, the erowd beholds 
The gloves of 'death, with seven distinguish'd folds 
Of tough bull-hides: the space within is spread 
With iron, or with heavy loads of lead." 

Uri/den's Virgil, JEn. T, 

Whether they were as expert as the pugilists of the 
present day, we have no means of ascertaining; but 
it is certain, that the professors of the art were trained 
with equal regularity; and there can be little doubt 
of their prowess, as we are told of one of them having 
had his whole set of teeth knocked down his throat 
at a single blow ! 

Both horse and chariot races, but especially the 
latter, were favourite diversions of the people in 
general; and, in order to ei joy them at their ease, 
there was an enclosed course immediately adjoining 
the city,, called the Circus^ although, in point of'fact, 
its form was oval. It was rather more than a mile 
in circumference; was surrounded with seats in the 
form of an amphitheatre, and three tiers of galleries! 
and was calculated to contain at least 150^000^ or^a^ 



82 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



some suppose, more than 250,000 spectators. In the 
centre there was a wall twelve feet in breadth, and 
four in height, round which the race was performed 
and at one end, there stood a triumphal arch through 
which the successful charioteer drove amid the plau- 
dits of the assembly. The horses ran to the left, 
and were restrained by a chain across the goal until 
the signal was given for starting. The race was 
generally decided in one heat of five, or sometimes 
seven times round the course, which, in the latter 
instance, was a distance of about four English miles# 
Four chariots usually started together, the drivers 
of which were distinguished by dresses of d iff- rent 
colours, each of which had its partisans, who betted 
largely on their favourite : for, it was neither the 
charioteer, nor his horses, that interested them, but 
the colour which they adopted; and so far was this 
carried, that the people were actually divided into 
parties who espoused the pretensions of the different 
liveries with such warmth, that ail Home was at one 
time agitated with the disputes of the Green and Red 
'Faction*. The chariots, as they are usually called, 
Were nothing more than uncovered two- wheeled cars, 
high and circular in front, and open behind. They 
We>e usually drawn by three or four horses, abreast, 
which the driver guided in a standing position, with 
the reins fastened round his body; a custom which 
occasioned many svrious accidents; for, the course 
being narrow, the turnings sharp and frequent, and 
both crossing and jostling permitted, the carriages 
were often overturned.*. 

We have very little information respecting their 
jockies; and it is not improbable that th< ir horse- 
races were commonly run, as in modern Italy, with- 
out riders Mention is, indeed, made of matches in 



* The " Circus" mentioned 'n the text, was as old as the thne 
of Ta; quinins Priscua; but its original destination was only to 
celebrate the public games on great festivals. It was callers bj?' 
$fay of pre-eminence* Circus Maximum. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gg 

which two horses were rode together by one man; 
and of some in which the riders leaped, during the 
race, from the horses on which they were mounted 
to others which they led: hut these appear more 
like feats of horsemanship than trials of speed. 
These sports were repeated in apparently endless 
succession, not only at the circus already described, 
but at six similar, though smaller, courses in the 
city, or its immediate vicinity. It might be ima- 
* gined that such a continued display would have sa- 
tiated the most craving appetite for diversion: but 
the eagerness of the multitude, was unabating: the 
capacious benches of the great circus were ever filled 
with a still untired crowd of spectators, and its vast 
area scarcely sufficed to contain the. throng that pres- 
sed for admission. .When the people were deprived 
by the emperors of their ancient right to choose 
their own magistrates, they lost the interest they for- 
merly took, with the weight they possessed, in the 
affiirs or the state: vast numbers were wholely 
without employment, and those who had no other 
means of support were provided for at the public 
expense; thus, masters of their time, and no longer 
finding occupation in the cabels of the forum, they 
devoted themselves, with an ardour that partook 
more of the nature of a mania than of a taste, to the 
various amusements which the government, no doubt 
to divert their attention from its measures, provided 
for the public : — 

"And those who once, with unresisted sway. 

Gave armies, empire, every thing", away, 

For two poor claims had long- renounced the whole, 

And only ask'd — the circus and the dole." 

GiffbrcPs Juvenal, sat. x. 

They who merely took the air on horse-back, or 
in carriages, were accustomed to assemble in an open 
space and solely for that purpose, called the Gestatzo: 
it was laid out in the farm of a circus, and t^vre 
usually was one adjoining the gardens of the villas 
belonging to persons of fortune. 



B% 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



The Romans rode without stirrups : nor does it 
appear at what period they were at first used : there 
is no mention made of them in the classics, nor do 
they appear on antique statues or coins. The young 
were taught to vault into their seat, and the aged 
©r inactive were either assisted in mounting by their 
grooms, or used the aid of stepping stones, which 
were placed at stated distances on the roads. Nei- 
ther had they saddles, such as ours, hut merely 
cloths folded according to the convenience of the 
rider, and fastened with a surcingle. These were 
covered with a large housing which was often richly 
embroidered; and, as the bridles were generally highly 
ornamented, the whole c^friparison wore a splendid 
disappearance. The horses were all entire, and the 
modern fashions of docking and cropping were not 
practised. It seems incontestable that they endea- 
voured, by some means, to secure the hoofs of their 
horses from injury; but it is equally certain that 
they were not acquainted with our method of shoe- 
ing. We are, indeed, told, that Nero's mules were 
shod with silver; and frequent allusion is made in 
the classic authors to iron and brass as having been 
employed for a similar purpose: but the shoes were not 
nailed, and were so contrived as to be removed at 
pleasure. It is also probable, that they came over 
the hoof, and that all we are to understand by u silver 
shoes" is, that the upper part only was formed of 
that metal. * 



* With respect to " shoeing horses," Professor Beckman re- 
marks, with great justice, " that it certainly was a bold attempt 
to nail a piece of iron, for the first time, under the foot of a 
horse." After a most diligent investigation of all the authori- 
ties that have touched on the subject, — and they are no small 
number, — he ascribes the period to the ninth century. 

" Saddles" he supposes to have been in use about the middle 
of the fourth century But the first certain account that he 
has discovered of" stirrups," does not occur until the sixth century. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS, gg 

Of the form of the carriages in use among the Ro- 
mans we have no certain description. They were of 
various kinds : a chair, or sedan, called sella, arid a 
litter, or couch, botruppen and covered, on which 
they reclined, termed lectica, were much used in the 
city, and sometimes also on journeys. These were 
borne on poles, the former by two, and the latter, by 
four, or six slaves, in livery. The lecticse are sup- 
posed to have been introduced towards the close of 
the republic, from Asia, where they are still used 
under the name of palanquins: they were furnished 
with a mattress and pillows, and had feet to support 
them when, set down; these were frequently of silver, 
sometimes even of gold, and the whole was most 
splendidly decorated. There was also a kind of close 
litter, carried by two mules, which probably resem- 
bled a carriage of that description in use at this day 
in Spain and Portugal, — countries, it may be ob- 
served, in which many traces of Roman customs, as 
well as antiquities, are yet to be found. The litter 
alluded to, is a double sedan, in the manner of a 
vis-a-vis, and the mules are placed between the poles, 
one before, and the other behind : it forms an easy, 
though slow conveyance, and is chiefly used by la- 
dies and invalids, and in those places where the 
roads do not admit of carriages on wheels: but 
the Roman lectica w r as as much employed by men as 
by females. 

They had carriages, both open and covered, on two 
wheels, and drawa by 'two or more horses abreast; 
and four-wheeled cars, or coaches, drawn by four, 
and sometimes six horses, or mules. These were 
painted of various colours, and highly ornamented; 
but the post-carriage, used for travelling, appears to 



It would appear, from some figures on an ancient engraved stone > 
and drawing, that horse-soldiers were provided with a small 
step, or a loop of leather, on their lances, to aid them in mount- 
ing. History of Inventions, vol. 2. 



36 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

have had the body of wicker-work, and, in fact, to 
have been nothing more than a light two-wheeled 
cart, drawn by three mules.^ The wheels were made 
in much the same mannei^as at present; though, 
sometimes, they were a solid circle of timber, and 
the tire was not unfrequently of brass; and, so far 
as we may judge from representations on ancient 
sculpture and medals, they were cumbrously heavy. 
The horses w^re yoked to the carriage by nietfns 
of a curved cross-bar, fastened to the pole, and pas- 
sing over their necks; and were guided, as at pre- 
sent, by bridles and reins, which weie sometimes of 
embroidered silk, with gold bits. The driver sat 
close behind the pole, and does not appear to have 
had an elevated seat; but in all other respects he 
seems to have managed his cattle like a modern 
coachman. 



* The first- establishment- in Europe of "post-carriages" for 
travelling 1 is due to* the Emperor Augustus. ' But they were only 
for the use of the public couriers; and although private persons 
were sometimes permitted to employ them, it was only in virtue 
of a royal mandate; but the expense it should be observed, was 
defrayed by government. The relays were frequent, and at reg- 
ular distances throughout every part of the empire. In the 
reign of Trajan we find Pliny travelling*; in post-chaises from 
Ephesus to Pergamum, (the ancient Troy,) and apologizing- to 
the emperor for having granted.to his wife an order for post- 
horses, from his government in Anatolia to Rome. Plin JEpist. 
1. x. ep. 26. 28. and 121. 

Of the celerity with which they travelled, an idea may be 
formed from the record of a journey made by Cesarius, a ma- 
gistrate of rank, in the time of Theodosiiis, who went post' from 
Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at night, was 
in Cappadocia (165 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, and 
arrived at Constantinople the sixth day about noon: the whole 
distance being 725 Roman, or 665 English miles. 

See Gibbon's Decline and: Fall of the Roman Empire,' vol. i. c. 2 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gy 

Besides horses and mules, many other animals, — 
dogs, goats, deer, and, it is related, even bears, leo- 
pards, lions, and tygers, were occasionally used in 
carriages; but more, it is to be presumed, for show, 
and to gratify a whimsical' taste, than for real service. 

Those persons vvho were not provided with a car 
riage of their own, might avail themselves of nume- 
rous vehicles for hire, with whiCh Rome abounded. 
But walking was the prevalent exercise; and luxury 
had introduced such a degree of sensuality into all 
their actions, that, not content with the natural ad- 
vantages of their fine climate, they had long covered 
promenades, or porticos, where they might enjoy the 
air without being exposed to the changes of the 
weather. Many of these were superbly vaulted, sup- 
ported by massive pillars of marble, paved with mo- 
saic, and ornamented with a profusion of pictures and 
statues. They form, indeed, so prominent a feature 
in the portraiture of Roman manners as to merit a 
separate description. 



CH&P. IX. 



Introduction of the Fine Ms into Some. — Rapacity in 
Formi>g Collections. — Galleries. — Maxims for Con- 
ve satiuu — : Poets. — Chens. — Neicspapers' — Porticos— 
Frivate Libraries. — Book* — Epistolary Correspond' 
ence. — Mude of Writing — Public Libraries. 

During nearly the first six, centuries of its his- 
tory, Rome, filled with the spoils of barbarous na- 
tions, presented only the martial spectacle of a warlike 
and conquering people: the fine, arts were unknown 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

there until Marcellus, Scipio, Paulus Emilius, Mum- 
mius,^ and others, brought from Syracuse, from Asia, 
Macedonia, and Corinth, the various specimens which 
those places afforded; and inspired their countrymen 
-with a taste which they afterwards gratified at the 
expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and 
private right. f l ^ he statues and pictures which 
Marcellus took from Syracuse, wese no doubt," says 
Livy, 4l the spoils of the enemy, and belonged, by 
the laws of war, to the conqueror; but it is from 
that period that we may date the birth of that licen* 
tious cupidity which has led the Romans to pillage, 
without scruple or distinction, both the temples of 
the gods, and the houses of individuals, in order to 
appropriate to themselves the chefd'ceuvres of the 
Greeks, which, until then, they neither understood 
nor valued. 55 ! 

The least criminal of the means employed in the 
gratification of this new passion was, to compel the 
sale, for a trifling consideration, of works in them- 
selves beyond all price: for which species of spolia- 
tion, the commands to which men of rank were ap- 
pointed in foreign countries afforded frequent oppor- 
tunities. The purity of the ancient laws did not 
allow the governors of provinces to make pur- 
chases from the people over whom they ruled: a wise 
and salutary regulation * of the senate, to prevent a 
very odious kind of peculation which afterwards disr 
honored the Roman name, and tarnished the lustre 
of their conquests: but when their morals became 
relaxed, neither laws nor principle were longer re- 
garded; and some openly took whatever pleased them, 
whether public or private property, without pretext 
or excuse, and without an idea of remuneration; 
while others, more cautious^ or more open to a sense 



♦ " Mummius" threatened the persons to whom he entrusted the 
carriage of some antique statues, and rare pictures, taken at Co- 
rinth,—" that if they lost those 3 they should give him new o?ie$/* 

f Tit. Liv. h xxv. C. 40. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



89 



of shame made plausible excuses for borrowing rare 
works of art from cities and private persons, without 
any intention of returning them. It is difficult to 
credit what Cicero relates of the excesses of V*rres 
in this particular during his praetorship in Sicily: 
he charges him of having plundered the temples and 
palaces of ail they contained, that was most precious, 
in bronzes, marbles, pictures, and statues.^ Nor 
were the generality of governors far behind him in 
this disgusting extortion; and their galleries were 
filled with the splendid testimonials of their rapacity. 
The porticos to which allusion has been already 
made, must not be confounded with those which * 
merely formed a screen before the entrance to private 
houses, or even public buildings;* for, although they 
irrght be appendant to them, ret they were in fact 
separate edifices, intended solely for exercise in all 
weather, and were frequently. of vast extent. These 
were sqjne'times closed, in the manner of galleries, 
and so constructed as to be adapted to every season, 
ranges of windows being exposed to different aspects, 
so as to admit either the sun in winter, or the air in 
summer. Such galleries w ere termed Crypto Porti- 
ons, in contradistinction to the open piazza, or 
Portions, over which they were sometimes construc- 
ted: the mansions of the opulent \vere in general 
encircled by them, as well as the piazza. 

Cicero constructed galleries at his villa, at Tus- 
culum, in imitation of the .schools of Athens: they 
were ornamented with the finest statues and paintings 
of Greece, and were appropriated to philosophical 
discussions* and familiar discourse with his friends. 
Of those conversations. he has left an account which 
sh uvs the degree of refinement in manner^ as well 
as morals, at which the Romans had then arrived. 
u They generallv turn," savs he, l, on our private 
afFurs, orth >se of the state, or else on some literary 
su ^j ct, without carrying the discussion of any. one 



* Ciceron, Orat, in Verrem, 

12- 



(jg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

topic so far as to tire those whose taste it may not 
suit. Attention is .paid to treat each suhjet>t with 
the proper degree of seriousness or levity, which its 
importance may 'require, or its trifling nature permit: 
but, above all, care is taken never to make an ob- 
servation which may betray a defect in the moral 
character; of which there is not a greater mark than 
the too common habit of rediculing, or speaking to 
the disadvantage of the absent. Our language, indeed, 
should ever be free from heat, as our observations 
from prejudice, malevolence, or frivolity; it should 
always be accompanied by affability of manner, and 
respect for those to whom it is addressed; and we 
should studiously avoid speaking of ourselves, but 
more especially in* our own commendation. 3 ^ These 
maxims were carefully observed by all w r eil-bred 
persons; and particular regard appears to have been 
had to preserve the decorum and respect due to age, 
and to the fair sex, and the circumspection#*ecesary 
in the presence of youth. Not but they were some- 
times infringed upon: gross and immoral persons 
will occasionally be found in every society; but then, 
as now, though they might be tolerated, they were 
not respected. 

The galleries were chiefly devoted to sedentary 
amusements, among which the game of chess, or 
one nearly resembling it, appears to have had a prin- 
cipal share, f Neither were they without the resource 



* Cic. de Offic. 1. i. c. 37, 38. 

f "Chess" is known to be a game of great antiquity; and the 
allusions to it in classic authors leave little doubt of its having 
been played by the Romans in much the same manner as now:— 
"To mimic war the radiant troops are led, . - 

And martial ranks the varied table spread; 

There sable bands, and Here a snow whfte-train, 

"With doubtfull fate of war the fight maintain 

But, who with thee shall dare dispute the field? 

Led by thy hand, what warrior knows to yield? 
O >t he fall, he falls With glorious pride* 

Eis vkiicmish'd foe extended by his side r 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. g.| 

of a daily newspaper, which recorded the chief oc- 
currences of public note and general interest, with 
the more^ private intelligence of births, deaths, mar- 
riages, and fashionable arrivals, in much thV same 
manner as those of more modern d ate. It was not, 
indeed, issued for circulation, being m rely hung up in 
some place of usual resort, and published, under 
the sanction of the government, for general informa- 
tion; but we m av presume that it was copi d for the 
private accommodation of the wealthy. Poets not 
unfrequently took advantage of the indolent leizure 
that reigned in these places to recite th- efforts of 
their muse, and sometimes, it would appear, to tire 
the patience of their auditors: — 

"While sweetly floats the voice in echoes round, 
The coxcombs never think at whose expense 
They thus indulge the dear impertinence." 

Francis's Hor. b. i. sat. 4, 

Literary men, indeed, read aloud for exercise: the 
younger Plinv gravely tells us, that it assisted his- 
digestion; and the celebrated physician, Celsus, re- 
commends it for the same purpose. 

The porticos annexed to the temples, and other 
public edifices, seem to have formed spacious squares, 
either in front of, or enclosing them.; and in manv in- 
stances they were entirely detached, • and of such 
extent, that they were used not only for exercise on 
foot, but in carriages also. The Campus Martius 
was surrounded by one continued colonnade; and 



Unnumber'd stratagems thy forces try; 

Now artful feign, and only feign, to fly: 

Now boldly rushes through the ranks of war 

The chief, who view'd the slaughtering scene from far, 

This .bravely daring in the arduous toil, 

R?pels the host advancing to the spoil; 

While cautious, that moves dreadful on, and slow, 

And fraudful, meditates the certain blow. ^ 

Lucan, Poem addressed to Pisa 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

many entire quarters of the city afforded similar 
shelter. These 'were made use of by dealers in pic- 
tures, statues., and other precious commodities, for 
the exposition of their wares; and, occtsiomdly, 
even the senate an ! the tribunals assembled in them, 
to ratify thrir acts, and to administer justice, or to 
give audience to ambassadors. . They were multiplied 
under the emperors; each endeavouring to surpass 
the other in this species of magnificence. The por- 
tico t reeled by Augustus around the temple cf Apol- 
lo was supported by columns of porphyry, and con- 
tained the statues of the fifty Dana'ides, with a large 
collection of pictures by the most celebrated masters. 
Agrippa adorned that which he consecrated to Nep- 
tune, in acknowledgement for his naval victories, 
with the story of the Argonauts; and those of Nero, 
and his successors, had each their appropriate and 
splendid emhelishments: while in the more simple 
time of the republic, they were merely adorned with 
the spoils of the enemy. 

Some affluent patricians, who, patronized literature, 
had, attached to thrir- galleries, splendid libraries, 
which were open to the inspection of the learned and 
the curious. Among these, that of Lucuilus was 
2'emarkable, not only for the number and variety of. 
the books, and specimens of art, but for the liberal 
use to which it was devoted." It was open, like 
many others, to the public, but was particularly re- 
sorted to by learned foreigners, who were there 
sure to meet the most flattering reception. Lucuilus 
himself took frequent part in their discussions; he 
protected them, received them at his table, and as- 
sisted them in their affairs; so that his house, as we 
are informed by Plutarch, became the assylum of 
literature, and the Prytaneum^ of the most eminent 
.Greeks who visited Rome. 



* The "Prytatueum" was a palace at Athens where the 50 preg>« 
idents of the 'senile, lived at the public expense, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. gg 

These collections were the more precious in con- 
sequence of the difficulty in acquiring books kit a 
period when, the art of printing . being unknown, 
each copy was, necessarily, transcribed. They were 
sometimes written on parchment, but more generally 
on a paper made from the leaves of a plant called 
Papyrus, which grew, and was prepared, in Egypt. 
The leaves were pasted together at the ends, and 
then made up into a roll, which was enclosed in a 
covering of skin, or silk, fastened with strings, or 
clasps, and an ornament in the form of a ball, and 
inscribed with the title. From this manner of rolling 
they acquired the name of Volumen, which has de- 
scended to our books of the present day, although 
their form no longer justifies its application. Both 
the papyrus and parchment were .as often used of va- 
rious colours, as white: mention is indeed made of 
purple vellum, and gilt letters; and such was the 
elegance usually displayed in the ornaments, that 
the clasps and rollers were frequently of silver or gold. 

The copyists were usually slaves who had received 
a liberal education; and their great number gives 
room to suppose, that, however tedious the process 
of transcription, the expense was not -considerable. 
The booksellers' shops were in consequence both nu- 
merous and well furnished with manuscripts. But 
inaccuracies must have been frequent; and thus, 
probably, have arisen those perplexing and irrecon- 
cileable passages, which sometimes occur in those 
copies that have reached us. 

The method of rolling the paper was adopted even 
in epistolary correspondence, until Caesar introduced 
the custom of folding letters in a flit, square form; 
but they were then divided into small pages in the 
manner of- a modern book. When forwarded for 
delivery, they were tied round with a silken thread, 
the ends of which were sealed with wax;* which 



* Besides " wax" the ancients are supposed to have sealed 
their letters with a cement partly composed of chalk, or fullersN. 



C}4* DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

mode of closing them was in use, even in this coun- 
try, at no very remote period: petit-maitres did not 
omit to perfume- them. The Romans did not use 
to subscribe their letters, but inserted their own name 
and that of the person to whom they were addres- 
sed, at the commencement, thus: Julius Cccsarto his 
friend Mark Antony, 'health ! And instead of the 
complimentary conclusion dictated by modern polite- 
ness, they ended them with a simple — -farezvell I I 

They appear to have been adepts in the art of 
stenography, and were acquainted with the use of 
cyphers to secure the secrecy of confidential corres- 
pondence. 

Writing was performed with a reed, split and 
pointed like our pens,^ and dipped in ink, which was 
sometimes composed of a black liquid emitted by 
the cuttle fish. But memoranda, or other unim- 
portant matter not intended to be preserved, were 
usually written on tablets spread with wax. This 
was effected by means of a metal pencil, called stylus^ 
pointed at one end, to scrape the letters, and flat at 
the other, to smooth the wax, when any correction 
was necessary. It appears to have admitted* of con- 
siderable iacility of execution; and the same method 
is still employed, though for a different purpose, by 
engravers in aqua-tinta. 



ear'h; but of the composition of which we are wholely ignorant. 
The sealing--Wi?x used at present is a modern invention. See 
JBeckmanri '$ History of Inventions, vol. i. art. Sealing-ivax. 

* " Pens" It is extraordinary. that botanists have not yet been 
able to determine the class of reeds designated by the Romans 
under the name of Calamus, vvh ch was tbat.apf.iLt d to the plant 
used by them in writing': more especially as reeds are still em- 
ployed for the same purpose throughout the East, and have 
been particularly described by various travellers. (^See Voyages 
de Chardin, vol. v. p, 49.— Do. Toimiefort, vol. ii. p. 136.) The 
time when quills were first used is uncertain, but is ascr.bed 
by P. of B ckmunn to the middle of the seventh century. IlistQs 
ry of Inventions^ vol. ii. art Writing Fens, 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. gg 

Besides the priv.ate libraries that were open to 
general use, there were others that were entirely- 
public property. The first so established, was found- 
ed by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty. It 
was embellished with the statues of the most cele- 
brated scientific personages of antiquity, and Varro 
was the. only living author, among the great number 
who then flourished at Rome, to whom that honor 
was assigned: a more glorious distinction, as Pliny 
justly observes,^ than the naval crown which he re- 
ceived from Pompey for his services in the war 
against the pirates. Pollio lived in the Augustan 
age, and had gained the honor of a triumph; but the 
variety of talents by which he was distinguished 
gave him a juster title to be ranked among the illus- 
trious men of that celebrated period; and the glory 
which he acquired by being the first to found a li- 
brary for the use of the puolic, animated even the 
emperors to follow his example. They afterwards 
became numerous, and were generally attached to 
some te'mple; were surrounded by vast porticos; and 
constructed not only for the reception of large col- 
lections of books, but also for the accommodation of 
the numerous assemblages of literati by whom they 
were frequented. Augustus erected one into an 
academy where new productions in poetry were sub- 
mitted to censorship, and in which those, deemed 
worthy of being transmitted to posterity were depos- 
ited, accompanied with the portrait of the author. 
Augustus, indeed,, use.d every means for the en- 
couragement of the arts and sciences, and they flour- 
ished under his- protection to a degree which has 
distinguished his reign as" the standard epoch of 
taste. There were, at thaj: time, three of those li- 
J^raries at Home, and their number was augmented 

/*by succeeding emperors to twenty-nine: of all these, 
the most considerable, as well as the most celebrated, 

. were the Pixlatine and the Vlpian ; the former so 



* Plin. Hist. Nat. I. vii. c."30. 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS kc. 

called from its situation, and the latter from its foun- 
der, the Emperor Ulpius Trajan. 

From this slight description some idea may be 
formed of the extent and magnificence of the Ro- 
man galleries, and libraries^ but an enumeration 
of the various details which have been transmitted 
in the classic authors would far exceed the limits to 
which rhese sketches are confined.^ 

A period was put* to the several occupations .of 
which we have already treated, towards the ninth 
hour, or about three o'clock, when the opening of 
the public baths was announced by the sound of a 
bell; at which well known signal, both business and 
amusement ceased, and all ranks hastened to partake 
of the enjoyment to which they were, without dis- 
tinction, summoned. 



* " Galleries and Libraries.'' 1 The English reader will find am- 
ple information on this subject in Kennetfs Bom. Antiquities— 
CastelVs Villas of the Ancients— and Mehnoth's Plimu 



97 



CHAP. X. 



Jlqueducts. — Baths — Publtc Thermce.*— Baths of JV^ra, 
of Diocfosian and of CaracaLla, — Libraries. — Attend' 
ants. — Mode of Bathing. — Private Baihs. 

The custom of daily bathing has been abandoned 
in Italy for many ages past, the use of linen having 
rendered it in a great measure unnecessary. But 
as the Romans were long unacquainted with that 
luxury, and the covering tor their feet was very im- 
perfect, frequent ablution was necessary both for 
health and cleanliness; and, from constant habit, it 
became requisite to their personal comfort, and one 
of their chief sources of enjoyment. A citizen, of 
whatever class, therefore, seldom failed in his atten- 
dance on the bath, unless public or private mourning 
obliged him to abstain from it. 

In the rude ages of the republic, when the mass 
of the people were chiefly engaged in agriculture, and 
the toils of the field were only interrupted by an oc- 
casional festival, it was merely customary to wash 
the arms and legs in the evening on the cessation of 
labour; and every ninth day, when the assemblies 
held for the affairs of government, or the usual at- 
tendance on the markets, called them to the city, 
they bathed the whole body: but they consulted no 
other rules than those which mere cleanliness dic- 
tated, and the nearest stream was usually considered 
the most convenient bath. 

K 



gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

It was not until about the year 441 from its foun- 
dation that Rome was supplied with water by means 
of aqueducts; but, at a later period, they became so 
numerous, that they are supposed to have furnished 
the city with a quantity equal to 500,000 hogsheads 
every twenty-four hours. They were constructed of 
brick, and conveyed the water, from distances of 
thirty, forty, and even of sixty, miles, to reservoirs, 
whence it was distributed over the town through 
metal pipes. # That attention to ornament, as well as 
use, by which the public buildings of the Romans 
were distinguished, was displayed in their erection: 
the Julian aqueduct, built by Agrippa, when iEdile 
under Augustus, contained 130 reservoirs, and 500 
fountains, all embellished with columns and statuary; 
and the vestipes of others, remaining at this day, at- 
test their lormer beauty and convenience. Works of 
such magnitude and utility merited, and received, the 
especial care of government : accordingly, Augustus 
established a commission lor their superintendence, 
of which the celebrated orator Messala was president, 
and from that time the situation was always held by 
men of the first rank. 

The establishment of baths followed soon after that 
of aqueducts; but they were for a long time of ex- 
tremely simple construction, and merely supplied with 
cold water. At first they were only erected contig- 
uous to the Gymnasia and Palestrae, where the na- 
ture of the exercises rendered their use indispensa- 
ble; this led to their general adoption, and they were 



* "Aqueducts." Strabo says, "that such a quantity of water 
Was introduced into the city, that whole rivers seemed to flow 
through the streets and sewers; so that every house had its p;i pes 
and cisterns sufficient to furnish a copious and perpetual supply. 

c * Three only (out of nine), of the ancient aqueducts remain 
to supply modern Rome; and yet, such is the quantity they con- 
vey, and so pure the sources whence they derive it, that no 
city can boast of such a profuse supply of clear and salubrious 
tvater," Eustace s Class. Tour, vol. ii. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



99 



finally carried to a degree of perfection which con- 
verted an act of mere cleanliness into a refinement 
of luxury. 

It has been supposed, that the various warm springs 
which abound in the neighbourhood ot Rome, first 
inspired its inhabitants with the idea of hot-baths, 
for which purpose a variety of vessels were in use 
in private houses. But public establishments of that 
kind were derived from the nations of the East; were 
first adopted in Greece; and thence passed into 
Italy, where they are said to have been introduced 
by Maecenas, a short time previous to the commence- 
ment of the Christian iEra. B^ing then joined to 
the cold baths, they obtained the denomination of 
Thermce, and began to assume that splendor which 
has since excited the astonishment of the world, and 
the accounts of which would have exceeded our be- 
lief, were they not too well authenticated to be 
doubted, and confirmed by existing remains. Ro- 
man magnificence seems, indeed, to have particularly 
displayed, itself in the baths: they contained within 
their enclosure, not alone the usual conveniences for 
bathing, but also, spacious galleries, and porticos of 
vast extent, for recreation and exercise, w r ith a pro- 
digious number of apartments for dressing and re- 
pose; and some had extensive gardens attached, em- 
bracing all the variety of running water, lawns, ter- 
races, groves, and even woods. The most consider- 
able were, those of Agrippa : — of Nero; to which the 
Waters of the sea, and o( the sulphurous fountain of 
Albula, no-v Tivolz, were conducted: — of Caracalla; 
orn im-nted with 200 pillars, and furnished with 1600 
se its of marble; — and of Dioclesian; which surpassed 
all others in size and sumptuousness of decoration, 
and was, besides, enriched with the precious collec- 
tion of the Uipian library. We are told, that Dio- 
clesian employed forty thousand Christian soldiers 
in its construction, whom he first degraded with ig- 
nominy, and afterwards massacred when the edifice 



100 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



was completed;^ and it is not a little remarkable, that 
its remains, which, after a. lapse of fifteen centuries, 
are still in great preservation, should now serve as 
a monastery.f 

The public Thermos generally consisted of a long 
uniform range of buildings exposed to a southern 
aspect. The north front contained a reservoir of 
cold water, sufficiently large to admit of swimming in 
it; the centre was occupied by a spacious vestibule; 
and on each side was a suit of w 7 arm, cold, and 
vapour baths, with their appendant apartments for 
cooling, dressing, and refreshment. The original 
intention in thus constructing them was, that each 
•wing should be appropriated to the different sexes. 
It was, then, not even thought decorous for a father 
to bathe with his son, after the latter had attained 
the age of puberty: but this reserve soon wore off, 
and, notwithstanding various prohibitory decrees of 
succeeding emperors, the baths were indiscriminately 
used by both males and females; with this only dis- 
tinction, that the latter were attended by.women.^: 



* Baronius, Annal. vol. i\. 

f "Baths of Dioclesian" "On an elevated site near the Vim* 
inal.and Quirinal hills, stands one of the grandest remains of 
ancient splendor — a considerable portion of the baths of Biocle- 
sian, now converted into a convent of Carthusians The principal 
hall is the church, and though four of the side recesses are 
filled up, and the two middle ones somewhat altered; though its 
pavement has been raised to remove dampness, and of course 
} its proportions have been altered, yet it retains its length, its 
pillars, its cross-ribbed vault, and much of its original grandeur. 
It is supported by eight pillars, 40 feet in height, and five in 
diameter. The raising of the pavement, by taking six feet from 
the height of these pilliars has destroyed their proportion, and* 
given them a very massive appearance. The length of the hall 
is 350 feet, its breadth 80, and its height 76.' 

Eustace* s Class Tour, vol. L 

$ ** Attended % women" Some authors, however, deprive the 
ladies oi even this claim to delicacy* 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS, 



101 



These baths were so many spacious and magnificent 
rooms; but that containing the warm bath was double 
the size of the others, both . because of the greater 
concourse of persons by whom it was frequented, 
and the additional time which they remained. The 
roofs were vaulted, and supported by pillars; the 
pavement was either tesselated or mosaic; the walls 
were encrusted with marble, and embellished with 
master-pieces of painting and sculpture; and the 
galleries, the porticos, and the various private apart- 
ments, were all ornamented with equal profusion. 
Trie vases and utensils were in unison with this 
magnificence: the warm baths, for separate use, were 
either of marble, of oriental granite, or of porphyry; 
and some were occasionally suspended, in order that 
their undulatory motion should at once procure a 
refreshing air, and invite repose. The thurmus of 
Caracalla was 1840 feet in length, and upwards of 
1400 in breadth, and contained within its walls the 
temples of Apollo, of .^Esculapius, of B acchus, and 
of Hercules. Besides the usual apartments, and 
the vast hall, already mentioned, it contained two 
extensive libraries, and a saloon for music; along 
the entire front there was a gymnasium Tor exercise; 
and the whole extent of the spacious gardens w is 
encircled by a portico opening into halls for the re- 
citation of poetry, and the delivery of philosophical 
lectures. 

Numerous slaves were employed in these public 
thermae, in the various departments of heating and 
cleansing the baths, and attendance on the bathers. 
Each bore the distinctive appellation of his particular 
employment, and all were under the superimU m e 
of certain officers of the police; whose dut\ it also 
was to take care that order and decorum were pre- 
served, and to regulate the time and price of bathing 
according to the directions of the magistrates. The 
hours at which they were optn were*, at first, be- 
tween two and three in th^* afternoon: afterwards, 
between sun-rise and sun set; and finally, in the 



10S 



BOMESTIC MANNERS Sec, 



rciign of Alexander Scv<rus, the people were allowed 
access to them to the* night, during the violent sum- 
mer heats; but at ail times, the sick and infirm alone 
Were indulged with that permission. The price o£ 
admission amounted to no more than about a farthing 
of (mr money; for they were in general large funds 
appropriated to them, and some were wholly support- 
ed at the expense of the state. The public were 
admitted to them all, without distinction of rank, 
and even the Emperors themselves not unfrequently 
condescended to join the throng, and bathed indis- 
criminately with their subjects. 

The bathing commenced with warm, and ended 
with cold, water; the vapour-bath being only occa- 
sionally used. The operation lasted a considerable 
time; for, not content with merely cleansing and 
drying the skin, the Romans were accustomed to 
have their bodies scraped with a small instrument of 
ivory or metal, of a semicircular form, rounded at 
the extreme edge, with a groove through which the 
impurities of the skin might run off. 

The private houses or persons of rank, and more 
especially their villas, usually had baths attached to 
them, many of which vied in splendor, though no! 
in extent, with the public thermae. We are indebted 
to Seneca for a description of one of these, from 
which we may picture to ourselves the general gran- 
deur of their construction. According to his ac- 
count, the walls were of Alexandrian marble, the 
veins of which wear so disposed as to were the sem- 
blance of a regular picture; the basins were set round 
with a most valuable kind of stone imported from 
the Grecian Islands; the water was conveyed through 
silver pipes, and fell, by several descents, in#>eauti- 
ful cascades; the floors were inlaid with precious 
gem-; and an intermixture of statues and colonnades 
contributed to throw an air of elegance and grandeur 
over the whole.^ 

On*leaving the bath they were anointed with scen- 
ted nils, and went immediatelv to supper. 



AGS 



CHAP. VII. 



Frugality of diet in the early ages of the Republic. — 

Simple construction <f the House< and Furniture 

Progress of refinement — tapper Rooms, — Tables — . 
Couches — Supper dress. — Arrangement of the Com- 
pany — Guests. — Parasites. — Plate — Napkins — G >ds 
of the T ble — Religious Ceremonies — fCing of the 
Feast. — Servants. — Ornamental Furniture. 

If we remount to the early ages of the domestic 
history of the Romans, we shall find, that their diet 
consisted chieflv of milk and vegetables, with a 
coarse kind ot padding which served them in lieu of 
bread; it Wis composed of flour and water with the 
occasional addition of an egg, and is still in common 
use among the Italian peasantry under tne name of 
polenta. They rarely indulged in meat, and wine 
was almost unknown to them. The ancient Romans, 
indeed, carried their dislike of luxury so far, that 
th~y expelled epicures from among them. Nor were 
th^v singular in this practice: the Spartans had their 
Efrhori, magistrates, part of whose duty it was to take 
care that thev should be no intemperate persons in 
the city* he who became fat through gluttony and 
idlentjss was publicly beaten, and they who practised 
anv other than the most simple art of cookery were 
banished. 

The construction of their houses and furniture 
accorded in plainness with this frugality of diet. But 
the pristine simplicitvoi R)man manners vielded grad- 
ually to the foreign habits introduced by the conquests 



faQfy DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

of the republic: Greece furnished models of taste in the 
fine arts, and Asia all tne refinements oi sensual 
indulgence; while the vast increase of wealth, the 
consequent progress of civilization, and the prodi- 
gious population of Rome itself, all contributed to 
the innovation; and luxury , at length, reached a 
pitch of lavish magnificence, which, although it ex- 
cites our wonder, yet conveys an idea rather of bar- 
barous splendor, and pr fiigate profusion, than of 
the refined enjoyments of polished society. 

Alter the early period to which we have alluded, 
when luxury began to gain ground in Rome, but 
before it h *d arrived at the degree which k after- 
Wards attained, each house contained one spacious 
hall in which the family assembled, and which served 
for all th purposes of society ; hut, towards the close 
of the Republic, various apartments w T ere constructed 
for the reception and entertainment of company, and, 
in the time of the emperors, their decoration was 
carried to the highest point of perfection. Amongst 
these, the eating-rooms — which more immediately 
claim our attention — were not the least remarkable 
for their grandeur: they were usually double t^eir 
breadth in length, and were placed in the upper part 
of the house, for the enjoyment of the prospect 
which that situation gent rally afforded. Nero had 
saloons, in the golden palace, wainscotted with ivory, 
the panncls which turned on pivots, and showered 
down flowers and perfumes on the guests from re- 
servoirs behind them. The most splendid of these 
apartments was circular; and its vaulted roof was so 
constructed as to imitate the movement of the spheres, 
which represented a different season of the year as each 
course was placed up on the table. The supper rooms 
of H-liogabalus were hung with cloth of gold and 
silver enriched with jewelry; the frames of the couch- 
es were of massive silver, with mattresses covered 
with the richest embroidery; and the tables, • and 
table-serviotrs, were of pure gold* These, it is true, 
sire instances of regal magnificence^ but others were 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^gg 

not wanting in the houses cf private persons, which 
rivalled them in the elegance, and even the costliness, 
of their furniture: — 

"Where ivory couches overspread 
With Tyrian carpets, glowing, fed 
The dazzled eye." 

Francis's Hor. b. ii. sat. 6. 

The tables were originally made of ordinary wood, 
square, and on four feet; but the form was afterwards 
changed to circular, or oval, supported on a single 
carved pedestal, and they were richly inlaid with 
ivory, gold, or silver, sometimes with the- addition 
of precious stones. Those most valued were made 
of a kind of wood with v;hich we are at present 
unacquainted. It appears to have been brought 
from some part of Barbary, and was called citron- 
wood: but the timber from the tree of that name is far 
from beautiful, and certainly was not then so scarce as 
to command an extraordinary price; yet we are told of 
a single table, formed of it, having cost a million of ses- 
terces! They were at first used without any cover- 
ing, and it was not until the reign of the emperors 
that cloths were introduced: tht-se were of coloured 
woollen, or silk and wool intermixed, and variously 
ornamented with embroidery; but those most in fash- 
ion were striped with gold and purple. A canopy 
was suspended over the' table, to guard it, as it is 
said, from the dirt of the ceiling. This, however it 
may have added to the decoration of the apartments, 
does not convey a very high idea of their cleanliness; 
and, in fact, Horace describes the accidental fall of 
the drapery, at an entertainment, as having enveloped 
the company in a cloud of dust.^ 

* "Canopy? Hor. Sat. lib. ii. sat. 8 — There is an anecdote. 
in the life of Heliogabalus — (or more properly Elagabalus)—*> 
which forms no unapt commentary on the text. Among" the va- 
rious acts of folly committed by that weak prince, he orde'.ed^. 
that all the spiders and mice in Rome should be collected, and 



£0g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

In the time of their ancient poverty, the Romans 
were content to take their frugal meal seated on a 
bare bench; but they afterwards adopted the custom 
of lying down at supper, on couches somewhat sim- 
ilar to the modern sofa. At first, the ladies did not 
deem this fashion decorous, and they long adhered 
to the ancient mode, as more becoming the modesty 
of the sex; but from the period of the first Caesars, 
to about the year 320, they conformed to the practice 
of the men. This indulgence, however, was not 
extended to young people, of either sex, and, when 
they were admitted at table, they were seated at the 
feet of their nearest relation. Each couch could 
accommodate three or four, but seldom five, persons^ 
who laid in a reclining posture, on the left arm, 
having the shoulders elevated with cushions, and the 
limbs extended behind whoever was next; so that, the 
head of the one was opposite to the breast of the other; 
and, in serving themselves, they only made use of 
the right hand. This mode of placing themselves 
is supposed to have been derived from the Asiatics, 
or the Carthaginians: but, perhaps, a better reason 
than that of mere imitation may be found in the 
custom of using the warm-bath immediately prt vious 
to their principal meal, at which alone they hud 
down: for, however refreshing, and even invigora- 
ting, ii m ly eventually prove, it occasions a lassitude, 
at the moment, which demands repose, whence, 
probably, the recumbent position was adopted. That 
of sitting, at supper, became afterwards a sign of 
mourning: in allusion to which Plutarch tells us, 
that, after the defeat of Pompy, Cato never laid 
himself down — but to sleep. 

The couches were usually ranged on three sides 
only of the table, the other remaining vacant for the 
more convenient attendance of the servants; but; 



the quantity actually gathered, of the former, amounted to 10> 
0001b. weig-nt: the mice being rather more difficult of access* 
anly 11*000 were caught,. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 40 y 

when the form of the table was changed from square 
to circular, it became customary to place but one 
large couch around it, in the manner of a crescent. 
The improvement in the decoration of the table, was 
followed, as may be supposed, by that of the couch; 
and from having been farmed of the coarsest materi- 
als — stuffed with straw, and covered with skins — it 
became not uncommon to see them plated with silver, 
and furnished with mattresses of the softest down 
covered with the richest stuffs. The ancient poets, 
and even graver writers, are full of descriptions of 
them, and have long dissertations on their substance 
and fashion, the choice of the purple, and the per- 
fection of the brocade. 

The dress worn ac table differed from that in use 
on other occasions, and consisted merely of a loose 
robe, of a light texture, and generally white. Cicero 
accuses Valerius, as if it were a crime, of having 
appeared at an entertainment dressed in black, al- 
though it was on the occasion of a funeral; and 
comparts him to a fury whose presence spread dis- 
may among the assembly. The guests were some- 
times supplied with these robes by the master of the 
house. The sandals were taken off, lest they should 
soil the costly cushions, and the feet were covered 
with slippers, or, not unfrequently left naked. Wa- 
ter was presented to the company to wash the hsnds, 
and even the feet, before they laid down; and they 
were then perfumed with essences.^ It was also 
customary to sprinkle the apartments with scented 
waters: but these were, probably, far inferior both 
in odour and variety, to those of the present day, as 
the ancients neither possessed so many species of 
flowers as the moderns, n< r were so well acquainted 
with the art of distilling them; and their chief per- 
fume was always extracted from saffron. 



*' Perfumed with essences? This custom is mentioned in the 
New Testament, in Luke vii. 37" & 38, and John xii. 2. Allusion 
is also made to the supper-dress, in Matt xxii. 12, and to the 
mode of reclining at supper, in John xiii. 23. 



IOS DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

Precedence was strictly attended to, and, in fami- 
lies or distinction, there was always a master of the 
ceremonies 'who arranged the company, but in those 
of inferior condition, that duty devolved on the 
giver of the entertainment. The master of the 
house occupied the second place on the centre couch, 
that immediately below him being for his wife, and 
that above, for the most distinguished guest. This 
was called the consular seat, and we are told, that 
it was so termed in consequence of being considered 
the most proper for the chief magistrate, because 
the space between it- and the next couch would ad- 
mit of his more easily conversing with those who 
might come to him on the public business. Those 
next in rank took the upper couch. Guests were 
allowed to bring their friends, though uninvited, 
along with them", and they were frequently accompa- 
nied by some humble dependents, who, however, 
do not seem to have been treated with much respect, 
and were even distinguished by the sneering appella- 
tion of "shadows."' These, with the parasites of the 
family — also contemptuously nick-named "flies," 
from those insects intruding themselves every where, 
— omd the clients, were placed on the lower couch. 
The custom of entertaining parasites — men who pro- 
fessedly repaid the hospitality of their host with the 
grossest adulation— was general, and betrays a want 
of delicacy and refinement but little in unison with 
the elevation of sentiment and dignity of manners 
which we are taught to consider as characteristic of 
the Romans, as well as a humiliating contrast with the 
high minded independence of their ancestors: — 

"Admitted as an humble guest, 

"Where men of money break their jest, 

He waits the nod with awe profound, 

And catches, ere it reach the ground, 

The falling joke, and echoes back the sound." 

Francis's Horace, b. i. ep« 18. 

They were not alone looked upon with the contempt 
which their servility perhaps merited, but they were 
often treated with a degree of coarseness that n fleeted 
as little credit on the manners, as on the hospitality of 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. j qq 

their entertainers; and we should -find it difficult to 
determine whether most to despise, the meanness 
of the patron who could impose, or that of the Syco- 
phants who would submit to, such a tax upon their 
reception.^ 

The guests heing placed, a bill of fare was laid 
before ejeh, with a cover and goblet. 

So long as the Romans were satisfied with the 
mere necessaries of life, their table services were 
only of earthen ware, or wood. The use of plate 
was deemed so inconsistent with the simplicity of 
republican manners, that, so late as the year 477 of 
the commonwealth, P. Corn. Rufinus was expell- 
ed the senate because he possessed about ten pounds 
weight in silver; although he had been twice consul, 
and once dictator, in which situations it may be pre- 
sumed that he would have been indulged in the 
greatest admissible latitude of pomp* At a later 
period, plate became so general, notwithstanding 
various sumptuary laws prohibiting its use, dint it 
was as common as it had been previously rare, and, 
in the time of the emperors, it was frequently of 
gold. Crassus is said to have possessed some of 
which the workmanship alone cost about fifty- two 
shillings the ounce; Sylla had silver dishes of sixteen 
hundred ounces; and one Drusianus Rotundus, a 
freedman of the Emperor Claudius, had one that 



%" Parasites" Amongst many practical jokes played off on 
this unhappy tribe, there was one with which Holiogabalus 
sometimes amused himself, that may admit of excuse. He re- 
ceived them in his most splendid banqueting-rocm, and there 
was placed before them,. to all appearance, a supper consisting 
of every delicacy in season. But, alas! the meat was painted 
wood, the fruit was wax, and instead of wine, the vases con- 
tained only coloured water. Still the courses were served in 
regular succession; the emperor pressed them to do honour to 
the entertainment; and after going through all the farms of & 
sumptuous feast, they were dismissed supperless* 

L 



£40 DOMESTIC MANORS AND 

weighed five hundred pounds, which was the centre 
dish of eight others, each weighing fifty pounds. 
Others, though not quite so extravagant with regard 
to the size, were equally profuse in the abundance 
and value of their plate, and, in general, their side- 
boards were loaded with a sumptuous display of 
massive vessels of the most costly description. 

Amidst all this ostentation, a custom of singular 
meanness prevailed: — each guest provided his own 
napkin; it was carried by a slave, whose duty 
it was also to bring it back; but it seldom returned 
empty; it generally contained a portion of the sup- 
per, and it was even customary for the guests to 
send some part of it to their families during the en- 
tertainment* This was not discontinued until long 
after the reign of Augustus, when it at length be- 
came the fashion for the master of the house to fur- 
nish his company with napkins, and their paltry per- 
quisite was abolished. 

Small figures of Mercury, Hercules, and the pen- 
ates, were placed upon the table, — of which they 
were deemed the presiding genii, — and a small quan- 
tity of wine was poured upon the board at the com- 
mencement and at the end of the repast, as a liba- 
tion in honour of them accompanied by a prayer: 
it was a custom derived from the remotest antiquity, 
and was ever scrupulously adhered to with pious re- 
verence. The salt was placed beside them, and was 
looked upon as a thing sacred; if forgotten, or spill- 
ed, the table was considered as profaned, and it was 
supposed to portend some dire misfortune. This 
superstition was derived from the Greeks, as well as 
that of viewing it as a bad omen to be thirteen in 
company: they have, indeed, descended to more 
modern times, and are not even yet entirely explod- 
ed. The table itself was held in veneration, as be- 
ing sanctified by the presence of their gods, and de- 
voted to the rites of hospitality, and the cultivation 
of friendship: were a solemn asseveration made, 
they touched it with the same reverence as if it 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



Ill 



were an altar, and an act of violence committed 
there would have been punished as a sacrilege. This 
religious respect, these libations and prayers, were 
so many public protestations by which the pagans 
avowed their obligation to the divinity for the bene- 
fits they enjoyed: what a reproach to the more en- 
lightened Christians of the present age, who, regard- 
less of the observances of their ancestors, and the 
precepts of their religion, now so generally omit to 
consecrate their meals by any act of acknowledge- 
ment to the Deity. 

Grace being ended, the king of the feast was ap- 
pointed. He was generally elected by lot, but some- 
times by acclamation.'^ His functions much resem- 
bled those of the president of a convivial club: he 
alone regulated the festivities- of the table; called 
upon whom he pleased to sing, to tell his story, or 
to amuse the company by any other talent he might 
possess; announced the quantity of wine to be drank 
to each health, or toast; decreed the forfeitures of 
non-compliance; and enforced his authority under 
penalty of additional bumpers. Plutarch has a long 
dissertation on the qualities which this arbitrary sov- 
ereign ought to possess: even Cato the Censor ac- 
knowledged that, old as he was, he was delighted at 
being of those convivial parties where the king of the 
feast animated each of the company to contribute his 
share to the general hilarity; and the importance at- 
tached by some of the gravest personages to the ex- 
ercise of his jovial duties, very forcibly depicts the 
attachment of the Romans to social enjoyment. 

At great entertainments, the supper room was 
hung with garlands of flowers, and the guests, and 
servants, were crowned with chaplets. 

* il King- of the feast" It is to this custom that Horace al- 
ludes, when he says;— 

"No more the d ce shall there assign 
To thee the jovial monarchy of wine." 

Francis, b. i. od. 4, 



H2 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



The slaves in attendance were numerous, and 
employed in separate services: those whose immedi- 
ate place it was to wait at the table, were lightly 
clad, and girt with napkins; some were stationed at 
the side- board in charge of the wine and plate; oth- 
ers were appointed to remove the courses; and oth- 
ers again to ventilate the apartment with large fans 
of feathers: But the important personage of all was 
the carver, whose duty was, not merely the dissec- 
tion of the joints, but their distribution also; which 
required no small share of discrimination, as the 
guests were treated according to their rank, and 
those on the lower couches did not always partake 
of the dainties served at the upper seats* A distinc- 
tion was even made between them in the quality of 
the wine, the best sorts of which were seldom 
allowed to reach the lower end of the table. The 
liberal and elegant Pliny the younger, indeed re- 
probates this practice, very properly terming it u an 
alliance of luxury with sordidness;" and Juvenal 
severely satirises it.* We may therefore conclude, 
that the custom was not without its exceptions: but 
they who sacrifice largely to ostentation, seldom re- 
serve much to bestow in real liberality, and it is not 
the less certain that it was the prevailing mode of 
treating the inferior guests. 

Amongst ail their refinements to promote indul- 
gence, it never occurred to the wealthy citizens of 
Rome to apply the bell to the obvious purpose of 
summoning their servants, and the mode they usu- 
ally adopted to require their attendance was, the in- 
elegant one of snapping their fingers. The use of 
forks was also entirely unknown to them; and it has 
even been questioned, whether the guests at supper 
made use of knives, or did not wholely rely upon 
the assistance oi the carver. f 



*Plin. Epist. 1. ii. ep. 6 — Juvenal, sat. v. 
Y Forks. 1 Professor Beckman (Hist of Invert, vol. iv. art 9 
Forks) attributes the first use oi forks to the Italians, about the 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 j g 

Besides the ornaments of the dining-room, alrea- 
dy mentioned, we read of fct Tyrian carpets,'' "Per- 
sian arras.," and "silken draperies," with which the 
floors, the walls, and windows, of their saloons 
were covered. The floors, however, were generally 
bare, though richly tesselated; the ceilings were fre- 
quently adorned with a fret-work of gold and ivory; 
the walls were usually painted in fresco, or encrust- 
ed with sculptured marble; and both paintings and 
statuary were lavished with profusion even in the 
houses of persons of inferior rank. Scented oil was 
used for illuminating the apartments; and ample carv- 
ed lamps, each resting on a massive candelabrum of 
figured bronze,* reflected their brilliancy on a gorge- 
ous display of surrounding magnificence:. — . 

"Now purple hangings clothe the palace walls, 

And sumptuous feasts are made in splendid halls. 

On Tvrian carpets, richly wrought they dine; 

With loads of massy plate, the side-boards shine, 

And antique vases, all of gold emboss'd, 

—The gold itself inferior to the cost 

Of curious work." 

Dry den's Virgil, JEn, b. i. 



end of the fifteenth century. Perhaps the oldest instrument of 
this kind is that formerly used by Henry the Fourth of France, 
which is still preserved at the castle of Pau; it is of steel, two 
pronged, and of both length and strength sufficient to secure a 
baron of beef. It is remarkable, that they are mentioned as a 
novelty, so late as the year 1608, by the celebrated English 
traveller, Coryat. Crudities, p. 99, edit. 1776. 

*' Bronze? Whether this was the substance which the Ro- 
mans distinguished by the name of Corinthian brass, is not cer- 
tain: whatever that metal was, it was rare and greatly prized: 
the younger Pliny mentions that his friend Spurinna possessed a 
table-service of it, which he valued highly as a curiosity. 

Plin. Epist 1. iii. ep. 1, 

'Corinthian brass, more precious tar than gold/ 

Stat. Stjlv. 2, 

L-2 



11* 



CHAPTER XII. 



Progress of the Culinary Art Sumptuary Laivs «— Epi- 
curism. — Instances of Profusion — Supper. — Favorite 
Dishes. — Manner of Drinking. — Anecdote of Antony 
mid Cleopatra — Games of Chance — Lotteries.— Buf- 
foons and Dancing Girls — The Parting Cup. — Pre- 
sents — Anecdote of Domitian. — Protervian Sacrifice, 
' — The Comissatio. 



During the most distinguished sera of the repub- 
lic, the repasts were prepared with sufficient atten- 
tion to elegance and abundance, but the refinements 
of cookery were but little understood, and the plea- 
sures of the table consisted more in society and ra- 
tional conversation than in the indulgence of sensual 
gratification. We have already seen how Cato the 
Censor spoke of them, and the animated description 
given by Horace, at a still later period, breathes 
equal conviviality tempered with discretion; — 

'O! nights which furnish such a feast, 
As even gods themselves might taste! 
Thus fare my friends, thus feed my slaves^ 
Alert, on what their master leaves. 
Esch person there may drink and fill 
As much or little as he will, 
Exempted from the bedlam rules 
Of roaring prodigals" and fools; 
Whether in merry-mood, or whim 3 
He takes a bumper to the brm, 
O better pleased to let it pass, 
Grows mellow with a, scanty glass? 



DOMESTIC MIW.HS, Sec. ng 

Nor this man's house, nor tkatfs estate, 
Becomes the subject of debate; 
]S T >~ whether Lepos the buffoon 
Knows hou* to dance a rig-adoon: 
But what concerns us more, I trow,, 
And were a scandal not to know; 
If happiness consists in store 
Or' rcnes, or in virtue more; 
Whether esteem, or private ends, 
Directs us in our choice of friends; 
What's real good without disg-uise, 
And where its great perfection lies.' 

Francis, b. ii. sat. 6. 

Bat this comparative moderation yielded to the tide 
of As! itic luxury which inundated Home after the 
conqu rst of the eastern provinces, and sumptu just- 
ness an I profusion were carried to an extent almost 
as incredible as it was, in most instances, absurd. 
T le cook, who had formerly been considered as the 
meanest of the slaves, became the most important 
offi :er of the household; and his art, which was be- 
fore held in some contempt, rose to the rank of a 
science, the professors of which were so>valued that, 
Pitny says, the purchase of a cook cost as much as 
th- expense of a triumph; and no mortal was so val- 
ued as the slave who was most expert in the art of 
ruining his master. 

Sumptuary laws jvere, indeed, enacted to check 
the progress of this excess: such were those known 
as the Orchian, Fannian, D'vJian, and Lkinian: the 
first merely limited the number of the guests; the 
others went more to the root of the evil, by reg- 
ulating the expense, and subjecting both the enter- 
tainer, and his com pan v, to fines if it were exceed- 
ed. Juiius Caesar revived some which had fallen 
into disuse, and was so strict in enforcing obedience 
to them, that he frequently sent the lictors to the 
houses of persons who were informed against for a 
breach of the statutes, and had the dishes carried oft 



I f g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND" 

from their tables, if they exceeded the permitted 
mrmber. Augustus passt d an edict by which the 
expense of a repast, on ordinary occasions, was not 
to exceed 200 sesterces, — -about :/. 12*. 6d. — 300 
on days of solemnity, and lOOO for a redding tca&t; 
this was somewhdt less severe than those preceding 
It, and the sum was afterwards extended to 2000 
sesterces .* But luxury, still stronger than the laws, 
broke through the barriers they interposed: so that 
earth and sea, as historians tell us, scarcely sufficed 
to supply the tables; and, at length, epicurism reach- 
ed to such a sickly pitch of refinement, that viands 
were only esteemed in proportion to their cost. 
Thus, Maltese cranes, peacocks, and rare singing 
birds: although hardly eatable, were esteemed great 
delicacies, and their tongues and brains still greater; 
oysters from the coast of Britain were morr prized 
than those taken on their own shores, though the 
former could never have been eaten fresh; aud we 
are told of a single sur- mullet, which had reached 
a siz e somewhat larger than common, having beerr 
sold for a sum equivalent to fifty guineas. f Nor 



*' Sumptuary -Laivs? The severity of these laws can only be 
estimated by a reference to the prices at which the delicacies of 
the table could be purchased; and on this subject very little 
information has been obtained. We learn that, in the early part 
of the reign of Augustus, the price of a fat peacock was about 12 
shillings, and of the^ggs 15 pence: but these were extraordinary 
rarities. It should also be observed, that the sumptuary laws 
did not extend to fruit or vegetables; and it appears, that the 
bon-vivants af Rome indemnified themselves by a lavish use of 
them for the restrictions imposed on more substantial fare. 

•f'Suv -mullet. 9 This fish was found in abundance in the markets 
of Rome; it is not, therefore, its rarity, but its uncommon size, 
that commanded the extravagant prce mentioned in the text. 
The fact alluded to is not isolated; various instances of such ab- 
surd profusion are recorded not only by the poets — who might 
be expected to exaggerate — but by graver writers As the sur- 
muilet was valued m proportion to its bigness, so was the pike 
for the opposite quality a 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. £ j y 

was this all: gluttony kept pace with epicurism, and 
was indulged in to such disgusting excess, that emet- 
ics were used to enable the stomach, already gorged 
with a full meal, to bear a further load; and though 
we are not to suppose that so loathsome a practice 
was universal, it has, yet, been too much animadver- 
ted upon by contemporary authors, to allow us to 
conclude that it was confined to a few individual in- 
stances. 

The profusion which reigned in some of their en- 
tertainments was such, that Suetonius tells us of 
2000 fishes and 7000 birds,, of the rarest kinds, 
having been served at one given by L. Viteilius to 
his brother the emperor. And Plutarch, speaking 
of the excesses of Antony at Alexandria, says, that 
eight wild boars were usually roasted as part of the 
supper; not that they were intended to be served up 
together; but, that, as it was uncertain a: what hour 
Antony would choose to sup, there was always a va- 
riety of food in different stages of preparation to be 
ready at the moment he might call for it*^ 

The table of Heiiogabalus was regularly served 
with ragouts of the livers and brains of small birds, 
the heads of parrots and pheasants, and the tongues 
of peacocks and nigluingdles: the carcasses were 
given to the beasts in his menagerie. But our aston- 
ishment at the absurdity of this extravagance, in a 
monarch, will be Jesscned if we reflect upon*that oi* 
the celebrated Apicius, and of ^Esop, the famous 
tragic actor; the latter of whom served up to his 
guests a dish filled with birds which had each been 
taught either to sing or to speak, and dissolved pearls 
in the wine which his company drank; and the for- 
mer, after having wasted half a million sterling on 
the mere pleasures of the table, put an end to his 
existence, — not out of regret for his past folly, but 
in despair that eighty thousand pounds which still 



* Swim, in Vit* Vitell—Plut, in fit. J~: 



g |g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

remained of his former fortune, would not enable 
him to continue it.^v Prodigality of expense seems, 
indeed, to have been more studied than delicacy of 
taste, and sumptuous waste more than elegant ar- 
rangement. 

The supper, if a meal taken before four o'clock in 
the afternoon may be so called consistently with 
modern ideas* was usually composed of two courses, 
and a dessert. The first consisted of eggs stained of va- 
rious colours, shell-fish, vegetables, and such trifles as 
compose the entremets at our tables; the second com- 
prised the ragouts, roast meat, and fish; the latter, 
particularly, was- a luxury in such request, that with- 
out it no Roman of fashion could be persuaded that 
he had supped. The dessert contained the usual 



* 'Apicius and JEsop.* Epicurism appears to have been here- 
ditary in the family of the former: besides the Apicius alluded 
to, and already so renowned in the annals of gastronomy, there 
were two others of the same name almost equally celebrated for 
their skill in that profound science, and their profusion in its 
application; one of whom lived in the time of the republic, the 
other in that of the Emperor Trajan: but the great Apicius, the 
immortal author nf 'The art of Cookery,' flourished in the reigns 
of Augustus and Tiberius, Vide Seneca de Consolat. ad. Helv. 
e x. et de Vit. beat c. xi. 

JEsQp^ notwithstanding his profligacy, is said to have died 
worth 160, 000?. Horace ascribes- the anecdote of the pearl t& 
his son:— 

'An actor's son dissolv'd a wealthy pearl 
(The prcious ear-ring of his favourite girl) 
In vmc-gar, and thus luxrious quaff 'd, 
A thousand soLd talents at a draught.' 
Be that as it may, the circumstance was not singular, as the En> 
pt ror Caligula entertained his guests in a sinrtdar manner, and 
Cleopatra is known to have gained a bet by dissolving a pearl in. 
vinegar and swallowing it; but the acid must have been stronger 
than that in use at" our tabks, winch would not easily penetrate 
the euamel of a pe&rL 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^ jq 

proportion of fruit and confectionary, much in the 
modern style; but it was customary to serve it on a 
separate table, and even the more substantial parts of 
the supper were occasionally brought in on portable 
tables, or placed before the guests on frames. 

Some of their greatest dainties would be apt to 
startle a modern epicure: snails, and a species of 
white maggot found in old timber, were fattened 
with peculiar care, and served only at the best tables; 
stewed sows' teats, fricaseed sucking-puppies,^ and 
water-rats, were in great request; and according to 
Horace, — 

"A lamb's fat paunch was a delicious treat." 

Francis, b. i. ep. 15. 

Poultry, of every kind known at present, except the 
turkey,f were abundant and in common use; but the 
favourite fowl was a goose, of which incredible num- 



* 'Sows* teats, and sucking -puppies? Pliny says that the latter 
were worthy of being- served at a supper for the gods: — Hist J\"at. 
1. xxix. c. 4. And Martial celebrates a cook who prepared the 
paps of a sow with so much art that they appeared as if still full 
of milk: — 1. xiiL epig 43. Whoever wishes to taste the 1 ' iu 
perlativeiy well dressed, will find the most approved receipt in 
Apicius de Art. Coquin. 1. vii. e. 2. 

f 'Turkeys. 9 It has been generally supposed, that the birds 
known to the ancients under the name of Meleagrides were the 
same as our turkeys; and that conjecture has given rise to much 
learned controversy. But professor Beckmann, who has summed 
up the proofs and arguments, on both sides, with great perspi- 
cuity, has clearly shown, that the) were not known in Europe 
until after the discovery of America, in which country they are 
indigenous; and that, the birds mentioned in ancient authors by 
the name of Gallinos Africancs— Guinea-fowls — were, in fact, the 
same as the Jlfeleagrides. 

It appears, that they were not introduced into England until late 
in the reign of Henry the Eighth, as they are not mention* d in 
the regulations of his househould, {inserted in the Archceoh r Ha % 
vol. iii. p. 157,) in which all fowls used in the royal kitchen are 



ISO 



.DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



hers were annually consumed. Whether this parti- 
ality arose from veneration for the memorable service 
rendered to the state by this bird; or from other 
qu alkies more easily appreciated, and more generally 
acknowledged; or whether its destruction may not 
rather be considered as a trait of ingratitude — has 
already been made the subject of grave discussion 
among learned commentators, and still remains an 
unsettled point. Some have supposed, that time 
effaced the recollection of the obligation; while others, 
anxious to reconcile the conduct of the Romans in 
this affair, with their principles, have contended, 
that they ever respected the immediate descendants 
of the Capitolme Geese, the brood of which was 
preserved with the utmost care^ and that, it would 
be unreasonable to expect that their gratitude should 
have extended to the coilatteral branches, The livers 
of these animals were, as they still are in some parts of 
the continent, esteemed great delicacies, and means 
were then, as now, contrived to increase their nat- 
ural size; but if we may credit the following enum- 
eration of rarities, the epicurism of the ancients ex- 
tended even to the colour of the bird that produced 
them: — 

"The slaves behind in mighty charger bore 
A crane in pieces torn, and powder' d o'er 
With salt and flour; and a white gander's liver, 
Stuff 'd fat with fig's, bespoke the curious giver* 
Besides the wings of hares, for so, it seems, 
No man of luxury the back esteems. 



named. But if we may judge from the following couplets, of 
the date of the year 1585, they must have then become plentiful: 
'Beefe, mutton, and porke, shred pies of the best, 
Pig, veale, goose, and capon, and turkie ivell drest; 
Cheese, apples, and nuts, johe carols to heare, 
As then in the countrie, is counted good cheare."* 

See Beckmamv $ Hist, of inven. ^ T ol. ii. art. Turkeys, 



msTiTunoNs of the Romans. j g . 

Then saw we black birds with o'er-roasted breast 
Laid on the board, and ring-doves rumpless drest: 
Delicious fare!" — 

Francis's Hor. b. ii, s. 8. 

But the most sumptuous dish was an entire boar, 

roasted, and stuffed, a la troyenne, with game and 

poultry. The animal itself was in such esteem with 

'.he lovers of good cheer, that Juvenal terms it— 

"a beast 

Designed by nature for the social feast!" 

Owen, sat. L 
And Horace, who was no contemptible judge in such 
matters, boasts of — 

— "A Lucanian boar, of tender kind 

Caught, says our hosl* in a soft southern wind, 
Around him lay whatever could excite, 
With pungent force, the jaded appetite; 
Rapes, lettuce, radishes, anchovy brine, 
With skerrets, and the lees of Coan wine," 

Francis, b. ii. sat. 8 

Fish was sometimes brought to table alive, and 
weighed in the presence of the company, that they 
might ascertain its value, and enjoy, in anticipation, the 
pleasure of feasting on it when dressed. When any- 
very rare dish was served, the slaves who bore it were 
decofated with flowers; it was announced with great 
ceremony, ushered in with music, and received with the 
joyous acclamations of the expectant guests. We are 
toid,that the Emperor Sept. Severus was complimen- 
ted on the honours he had thus rendered to a sturgeon; 
and more particularly, on the renovation of the cus- 
tom, which, it would appear, had fallen somewhat 
into disuse. In the reign of Domitian, the senate 
was convened to consult on the best mode of dressing 
a turbot of extraordinary size which had been pre- 
sented to the emperor; and although it, certainly, 
formed no part of the duties of senators to regulate 
the mysteries of the despot's kitchen, yet. Domitian 

M 



j<as> DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

probably knew, that no council of cooks could furnish 
him with better advice. The turbot was boiled: but 
the most important point — the sauce with which it 
was served— has not, unhappily for the science of the 
table, been recorded. It must, however, afford con- 
solation to the amateurs of good-eating, that Horace 
has, with good commendable care, preserved the 
receipt for the sauce epicurienne of the Augustan 
age:— 

"Two sorts,' (he says) "of sauce are worthy to be known; 
Simple the first, and of sweet oil alone: 
The other — mix'd with rich and generous wine, 
And the true pickle of Byzantian brine, 
3Let it, with shredded herbs and saffron boil, 
And when it cools, pour in Venafran oil." 

Francis, b= ii. sat. 4. 

Wine was served in large earthen vases, which 
circulated as the decanters do after dinner at 
an English table, and bore, each, a label describing 
the age and quality of the liquor it contained. There 
were cups, to drink out of, of various dimensions and 
materials, which it would be tedious to particularize: 
that most generally used, was called a cyathus; it 
was a small goblet — at elegant tables usually of gold 
or silver, not uncommonly ornamented with precious 
stones — and contained about the same quantity as a 
modern wine gla. c s. Pliny says, that during the 
reign of Nero, vases and cups, in imitation of chrys- 
tal, were obtained from Alexandria, in Egypt, at 
that time celebrated for the manufacture of glass. ^ 



"* "Glass" — Pliny ascribes the invention of glass to a period 
about 1000 years antecedent to the Christian j£ra; (Hist. Nat. 
L xxxvi. c. 26;) — but the manner in which he describes it to 
have taken place is doubted. 

Two ancient glasses found at Nismes, which are described in 
the celebrated work of Count Caylus, were covered with figures; 
but the period at which they were made has not been ascertained, 
^-See Becueild* Jlntiquites, vol. ii. p. 363. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^gg 

But they were both rare and expensive; and although 
mentioned by ancient authors as articles of great 
luxury, and notwithstanding it is certain that the an- 
cients were, from a very remote period, acquainted 
with the art of fabricating glass, and even at a fciter 
date, with that of cutting it, yet, if we may judge 
from the specimens found among the ruins of Her- 
culaneum and Pompeii, they were of coarse materi- 
als and rude workmanship. The wine, when brought 
to table, was passed through strainers in which 
were small pieces of ice, and it was sometimes both 
cooled and weakened by an admixture of snow:^ ia 
winter, it was usual to temper it with warm water. 
It was not poured from the vase, but the cyathus was 
dipped into it, and, in houses where much etiquette 
of attendance was observed, that duty was perform- 
ed by boys attired with more care than the other 
slaves. 

It was customary to drink toasts and healths: and 
sometimes, when any very animating sentiment was 
given, the company pledged it by throwing their 
chaplets into the wine; which was called "drinking 
tfie croxvns" During the preparations for the battle 
of Actium, Antony having suspected Cleopatra of a 
design to poison him, refused to partake of any thing 
at her table until she had previously tasted it. Cle- 
opatra laughed at his fears; and, having dressed her- 
self in a wreath of poisoned flowers, she proposed 
after supper, — u to drink the crowns*" Antony, out 
of gallantry, immediately threw the one she wore 
into his cup, and had already carried it to his lips, 
when the queen, seizing his arm, informed him of 
his danger; and thus proved to him, that his suspi- 
cions were as groundless as his precautions were un- 
availing. These chaplets, however, were not always 



t'Snow.* The ancients were acquainted with the modern me- 
thod of preserving- ice: the invention has been attributed to 
Alexander the Greats 



484 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



composed of flowers. The ancients imagined that 
certain plants possessed the quality of preventing 
Intoxication, and, with that view, they bound their 
heads with wreaths of ivy, of vervain, and of pars- 
ley. # yet, with whimsical inconsistency, they used 
provocatives to promote drinking, which may fairly 
vie with. the "broiled bones," "devilled-biscuits," 
and "anchovy-toasts," of the moderns; and we are 
exultingly told, that — 

'Stew'd shrimps and Afric cockles shall excite 
A jaded drinker's languid appetite.' 

Or— 

'Grapes and apples, with the lees of wine, 
White pepper, common salt, and herring-brine.' 

Francis s Hor. b. ii. sat. 4.. 

After supper, and sometimes even between the 
courses, they played at dice; for although gaming 
w.as forbidden, except during the feast of the Satur- 
nalia,! yet the prohibition either extended only to 



*' Wreaths of ivy, of vervain and of parsley? — 
'With living wreaths to crown our heads, 
The parsley's vivid verdure spreads; 
To bind your hair the ivy twines. 9 

Francis's Hor. b. iv. ode. 11, 
The Romans borrowed this custom from the Greeks, who, 
themselves, took it from the orientals: allusion is pointedly 
made to it in the Old Testament: Isaiah xxxiii. 1 and 3. 

f ''The feast of Saturnalia, 9 was intended to commemorate, and 
in some degree represented, the ancient equality of condition 
that reigned among mankind. During its continuance, the 
power of masters over their slaves was suspended, and they as- 
sociated together with the utmost freedom, all distinction of 
?ank, even in dress, being then entirely laid aside. It was held 
in the month of December, and lasted, at first three, and after- 
wards five, days, which were one continued scene of joyous 
festivity. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS, 



125 



houses of public resort, or was not enforced: and i% 
was so general, that the emperors themselves in- 
dulged in it, and even Cato considered it as an 
amusement befitting old age. But Cato regarded it 
merely as a relaxation, and did not contemplate such 
a stake as could either excite the passions, or injure 
the fortune; whereas high-play was pursued by the 
nobility of Rome with all the frenzy which distin- 
guishes that odious and destructive habit. 

They had two kinds of dice: the tesserce^ and the 
tali. The first were cubes, like ours, and marked, 
also, on the faces, with numbers from one to six, 
but with the numeral characters instead of dots. 
The tali were oblong squares, and only numbered 
on the four sides — the deuce and the cinq being 
omitted. They were thrown from a box in many 
respects similar to that still in use. 

The most usual game was one of mere chance, 
depending on the highest throw, and was played 
with three tesserae. There was also one somewhat 
similar to our backgammon, or rather to a game 
much in vogue on the continent, and nearly resemb- 
ling it, called trictrac. It was played with four tali, 
and fifteen counters on each side; the latter generally 
of gold and silver, or of differently coloured glass. 
The table on which it was played contained twelve 
points on each side, divided by aline, and the coun- 
ters were moved, according to the throws upon the 
tali, until they were forced over the boundary. The 
best throws at this game, was when all the dice pre- 
sented different numbers; this was called venus; the 
worst was four aces, which were termed cants, or, 
in terms of still stronger disappointment, damnosi 
canes. 

Many other games of chance were played; some 
from a spirit of gaming, others for mere amusement: 
but our information respecting them is very imper- 
fect. One, however, remains to the present d;i\ — , 
the morra — and is still common among the lower 
dasscs in Italy: it is plaved by two persons, and con* 

M 2 , 



£ 2 6 DOMESTIC MANNERS ANEr 

sists in holding up one, or both hands, and suddenly 
raising some of the fingers, while each, at the same 
moment, guesses at the number stretched out by the 
other. 

When the emperors, and indeed, even when pri- 
vate individuals of rank, gave an entertainment, 
part of the amusement sometimes consisted in a lot- 
tery, in which each ticket represented a prize. Con- 
siderable sums were occasionally distributed in this 
manner among the guests; but not in actual money: 
the prizes were generally pictures of various merit, 
trinkets, or things of more importance, contrasted 
With others of ridiculously small amount. Thus, in 
one given by Heliogabalus, one of the lots consisted 
of ten camels, and another of ten flies; others, ten 
ostriches, and terl eggs; ten pounds of gold, and ten 
of lead; and all in equally absurd proportion. 

Soon after the establishment of the republic, it 
became customary at their entertainments, to sing 
the praises of their great men to the sound of the 
Flute and the Cithara. But after the conquest of 
the Asiatic provinces, jugglers,^ buffoons and danc- 
ing girls were introduced; and a kind of pantomime 
t — not always of the most modest description—was 
substituted for the ancient hymns and chorusses 
These licentious exhibitions palled the sense they 
were meant to stimulate, and led to such brutal de- 
pravity of taste, that gladiators were frequently in- 
troduced into them; and a diversion— ii such, in- 
deed it may be called — which is a stain upon the 
manners, and the morals of the Roman public, was 
adopted in the private assemblies of the patricians. In 
justice, however, to the society of Rome, it must 
not be concealed, that ladies and young persons re- 
tired whenever any scenes unfit to be represented 



*< Jugglers' Many of the deceptions still practised by these 
people appear to have been familiar to the ancients: particularly 
the various tricks with fire, and with cups and balls. 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. f gy 

before them were about to be exhibited. Nor, 
amidst all this extravagance of luxury, and laxity of 
manners, if not of morals, were splendid examples 
of moderation, and propriety of conduct, wanting 
among the men: at the tables of both the Pliny's, 
and of Attirus, readings from celebrated authors 
were. substituted for the dances and combats exhibit- 
ed at other houses; and the sober maxims of Cicero 
on this subject are too well known to require repe- 
tition. 

The supper ended, as it began, with libations to 
the gods: prayers were off red for the safety and 
prosperity of the host, whose health was drank at 
the same time: together, during the reign of the 
Caesars, with that also of the Emperor; and a last 
cu ) was qu iffed to one general ^good-night." This 
parting cup — the pocnlum boni genii of the ancients 
— was a custom long religiously adhered to by our 
hospitable forefathers, ere it was exploded by the 
cold refinement of modern manners: and is still pre- 
served in the cordial stirrup-cup of our Scotch and 
Irish neighbours. 

On taking leave of the host, he usually made his 
guests some present, more or less valuable as incli- 
nation or circumstances dictated. Some instances 
are recorded of extreme prodigality on such occa- 
sions, others of absurdity, and even of barbarity. 
Among the former, Cleopatra's gifts to Antony are 
prominent. After the superb entertainments made 
for him at Tarsus, she, each time, presented him 
with the entire service of plate, of the most costly 
description; and to the numerous friends who ac- 
companied him, she gave the tapestry and couches 
which served for the occasion; and the golden cups 
and vases of which they had made use. To some of 
the most distinguished among them, she gave litters 
with their bearers; to others, horses richly capari- 
soned; and to all, young Ethiopian slaves to carry 
flambeaux before them to their lodgings. The lavish 
munificence of Cleopatra to Antony > may not, in- 






428 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

deed, excite much wonder: but we are told, thai 
Verus invited eleven friends to a supper, alter which 
h< gave to each of them the page who waited upon 
him at table, and all the costly cups of gold and 
crystal of which he had made use, a maiire-d'hoiel, 
with a complete service of plate; vases of gold, fill- 
ed with the most precious perfumes; and similar ani- 
mals alive, both quadrupeds and birds, to those 
Which had appeareu at the tabic: to crown all, they 
w-re conveyed home, each in a splendid carriage, 
which was presented to them; together with the set 
of mules by which it was drawn, and the muleteer 
by whom it was driven. 

It is related of the E nperor Domitian, that he 
summoned a party of senators and knights to one 
of the entertainments given by him on the occasion 
of his pretended victory over the Dacii. They 
were introduced, with much solemnity, into a saloon 
entirely hung with black, and all the furniture of 
the same sombre description. On t iking their pla- 
ces, each found before him a small pillar, such as 
was usually raised over tombs, with his name ia- 
scribed on it, and surmounted by a sepulchral lamp; 
and they were attended by naked children, blacken- 
ed from head to foot, to represent so many infernal 
daemons. These sprites danced round the table with 
hideous grimaces, and then presented to the guests 
such meats as were used only at funeral ceremonies. 
A profound silence was observed by every one but 
D omitian, who, in a tone of portentous seriousness, 
entertained the company with lugubrious stories of 
murders and apparitions, ft may be imagined with 
what appetite the supper was eaten; particularly 
when it is recollected, that the tyrant frequently en- 
tertained those unhappy wretches sumptuously at 
night, whom he put to death on the following day. 
At length, the gursts were dismissed; but they were 
conducted home with much caution and mystery, 
and soon after th^ir arrival a messenger was announc- 
ed from the Emperor# Each concluded that it was 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. ^gg 

his death warrant: but it was, on the contrary, the 
little imp who had waited upon him at table, now 
dives.ted of his ominous black, elegantly dressed, 
and bearing, as a present, the monumental pillar*— 
which proved to be of silver, — and some article of 
plate. 

The remains of the repast were partly distributed 
among the slaves, and such things as were not fit 
for further use were burned. This was a kind of sa- 
crifice, and was termed® protervia; in allusion to 
which, Cato said of a spendthrift who, after having 
squandered his fortune, accidentally set fire to his 
house — ''that he had finished according to rule, with 
the protervian sacrifice." 

Although the supper was the last regular meal of 
the day r it was not unfrequently followed by a colla- 
tion — called comissatio, — after which the guests sat 
late, and drank deep; and this additional repast be- 
came at length so general, that invitations were 
given for it separately. It, therefore, answered to 
the supper of the present day, as the Roman supper 
did to our dinner; and their dinner as we have al- 
ready seen, was so slight and irregular, that it may 
be considered as the modem dejeuner a la four- 
chette* 



180 



CHAP. XIII. 



Sobriety of the Ancient Romans — Instances of subse- 
quent excess. — Italian Wines, — Mariner of planting 
the Vines. — Vintage, — Mode of making, and preserv- 
ing* Wine.—Grecian Wines. — Fermented Liquors.—' 
Horticulture. — Bees. — -Sugar. — Coffee. — Tea.—>For~ 
eign Commerce. 

In the early ages of the commonwealth, the men 
were not permitted to drink wine until they had at- 
tained their thirtieth year. The use of it was alto- 
gether interdicted to women: if they infringed this 
rule, their husbands, or even their nearest relatives, 
were allowed to chastise them; and a law existed, in 
the time of Romulus, which subjected the # m to capi- 
tal punishment if found in a state of intoxication. 
Whether it was the scarcity of the liquor, or the 
more probable motive of attention to the morals of 
the people, which gave rise to the prohibition, does 
not appear; but, from whatever cause it proceeded, 
certain it is, that their ancient sobriety ceased so 
soon as the grape became abundant, and excess in 
wine became so prevalent in Rome, that Pliny 
speaks of men- — in polite society — who, after having 
drank to repletion, took goblet after goblet until 
they regorged it; then recommenced, and repeated 
this disgusting essay of their powers several times at 



DOMESTIC MANNERS &c." 



131 



the same sitting. Of this number was Mark Antony, 
who published an account of his drunken revels; and 
the younger Cicero, who acquired great celebrity by 
the quantity he could drink at a draught; u as if," 
says Pliny, "he wished to deprive Antony, the mur- 
derer of his father, of the glory of being the great- 
est drunkard of the age."^ 

The Emperor Tiberius is recorded to have passed 
two whole days and nights at table with Pompunius 
Flaccus and Lucius Piso, whose convivial qualities 
he afterwards rewarded — the one with the govern- 
ment of Syria, the other with the prefecture of the 
city; — and was so far from concealing the motive for 
their advancement, that the patents of their appoint- 
ments expressed it. Seneca, indeed, says of him, 
that he was only drunk once in his life, and that was, 
from the first moment he became intoxicated until 
the day of his death. 

Cossus, also prefect of the city under Tiberius^ 
was in the constant habit of going drunk to the 
senate, whence he was frequently carried in so pro- 
found a sleep as not to be awakened by the motion 
of his removal. And Cato himself was accused of 
indulging too freely in the pleasures of the table. 

Even females at length gave themselves up to 
these excesses. A great moralist, of the time of 
Nero, represents them passing whole nights at table, 
and, with charged goblets in their hands, not only 
vying with, but surpassing, the most robust de- 
bauchees, in intemperance.f But the picture which 
he draws of their licentiousness, is, no doubt, over- 
charged, and the censure too. generally applied, for 
we have already seenj that the ladies usually with- 
drew before the orgies of the men commenced. 

Pliny considers the libations instituted by Romulus 
—which were of milk — and the prohibition by Nu- 



*Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. xiv. c. 22. 
\ c A great moralist? — Seneca, epist. 95. 



J3S DOMESTIC .MANNERS ANB 

ma to pour wine on the funeral pyres in honour of 
the dead, as sufficient proofs that vines were then 
rare in Italy. They became very common in the 
sequel; and were probably first obtained from 
Greece. It was the wines of Italy which attracted 
the Gauls thither in the dictatorship of Camiilus, 
within little more than three centuries after the death 
of Numa; and it is well known, that wine was made 
in large quantities in the consulate of Lucius Opi- 
mi us, more than a century before the Christian aera. 
The territory of Capua alone furnished several dif- 
ferent kinds, and all of excellent quality: that of Fa- 
lernus was the most esteemed; yet it was so harsh 
and strong that it required to be kept at least ten 
years before it was drinkable, and was then mixed 
with honey or with sweet wine, in order to amelio- 
rate it. But the reign of this wine, and the other 
growths of Capua, was not of long duration: they 
fell into disrepute in consequence of the avidity of 
the proprietors of the vineyards, who, seduced by 
a false prospect of profit, used means to increase the 
quantity without clue regard to the quality. 

Vineyards were at length so multiplied, that they 
impeded the more necessary cultivation of grain, 
and the Emperor Domitian found it necessary to or- 
der those in the provinces to be reduced in the pro- 
portion of one half: he also forbade all new planta- 
tions in Italy. Suetonius, indeed, says, that he did 
not enforce this edict, and it appe ars, that Asia was 
exempted from it. But many authors assure us, 
that the decree of Domitian remained in force until 
the reign of Probus, who caused his soldiers to plant 
vines on the hills of Gaul and Pannonia, and then 
gave them to the inhabitants to cultivate; allowing 
them, at the same time, to plant as many others as 
they pleased. Thus, it would appear, that France 
and Hungary are indebted to the last mentioned em- 
peror for their vine-yards.^ 



*The 'Vine-yards* of Burgundy are supposed to be as old as 
the age of the Antonines. The district of Beaune— still es- 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. ^gg 

It was th^ custom throughout ancient Italy, and 
Is to this day in all Umbria, to attach the vines to 
trees, whose branches were thus festooned with them: 
Horace alludes to it when he uses the figure of mar- 
rying the vines to the poplar; and both Virgil and 
Catullus employ a similar metaphor: — 



'Aspiring 1 vines 

Embrace the husband elms in amorous twines.' 

Dryden, Georg. b. ii. • 

'As on the naked plain th' unxvedded vine 
Nor lifts the head, nor forms the generous wine, 
But sinking with its weight, its tallest shoot 
Reflected bends to meet the distant root; 
Unhon^ured, worthless, and foriorn it stands, 
UntilPdby lab'ring steers, or rustic hands: 
But should a husband elm its aid extend, 
Both lab'ring steers and rustic hinds attend.' 

Catullus, b. xii. 49. 

The vintage was then, as now, a season of joy 
aied festivity. The first of the Vinalia was then eel- 
Crated, — 

'When Roman youth, deriv'd from ruined Troy, 

In rude Saturn ian rhymes express their joy; 

With taunts, and laughter loud, their audience please, 

Deform'd with vizards, cut from bark of trees; 

In jolly hymns they praise the god of wine, 

Whose earthen images adorn the pine, 

And there are hung on high, in honour of the vine.' 

Dry deli's Virg. Georg. b. ii. 

The process of making wine was simple, and 
much the same as that still in use. The finest grapes 
were first crushed with the feet, alter which they 



} 



teemed for the quality of its wine — is presumed to be that cel- 
ebrated by the Romans under the name of Pagns Arebrignns. 
See, Gibbon's Decl. of the Horn. Emp. vol. i. ch. 2. and Stiff* 
tonzus in Vit. Doinit, i. xiv. 

N 



jg£ DOMESTIC MANNERS ANB 

were placed in a press, and a joint produce con- 
stituted the best quality; the refuse clusters were 
then added to the pulp, and thrown into water, and 
from this mixture an inferior wine was made for the 
use of the slaves. The must was strained either 
through bags, or baskets formed of rushes, and was 
afterwards clarified with the yelk of pigeons' eggs. 

The wine was kept in large jars, formed like urns, 
and usually stopped with a composition of pitch and 
mastich, cork being but seldom used for that pur- 
pose. The date of the vintage was marked on the 
stopple, which was sometimes sealed, also, with the 
signet of the grower, as an attestation of the genuine 
quality of the contents. These jars were visually ranged 
in cellars, one over the other, but some were hung to 
the walls, and others were buried in the earth, or even 
sometimes bedded in masonry. They were occasional- 
ly, also, placed in the attics, or on the tops of flat-roofed 
buildings, from an opinion that the action of the 
sun and air contributed to ripen the wine; and, with 
a similar view, they v/ere sometimes suspended over 
the smoke of a fire. Skins were made use of to 
transport the wine;^ for the art of making hoopfd 
vessels was for a long time, unknown: it, is supposed 
that we are indebted for the invention to the Gauls 
who inhabited the banks of the Po, but at. what pre- 
cise date does not appear. 

It is well known that wine was preserved to a 
great age; there was some in use, in the time of 
Pliny the elder, which was made during the consul- 
ship of L* Opinius, and was, consequently, then 
about two hundred years old. It had a bitter taste, 
aifd had acquired the consistence of honey: but it is 
probable, that the latter quality was artificial, rather 
than the effect of age, as the Romans used to inspis- 
sate the wine they intended to reserve, by boiling 



* e Skins -were made use of to transport the ivine? This custom 
is Still continued in many parts of Europe, but particularly 
throughout the Peninsula, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^gg 

down the mast. It was chiefly employed to give 
strength and flavour to other wine, with which it 
was mixed in small quantities; and the price w^as so 
excessive, that an ounce weight of it has been cal- 
culated, from the text of Pliny, to have cost about 
four pounds sterling. 

Notwithstanding the excellence of the Italian 
wines, those of Greece were in greater estimation: 
particularly that from the island of Chios; which was 
so high priced, that., at the greatest entertainments, 
only one cup of it was presented to each guest. In 
process of time, however, it was lavished in equal 
profusion with every other luxury. We are told, 
that Lucullus gave a fete to the people, on his return 
from Asia, at which there was expended a quantity 
of wine equal to 100,000 barrels; and Csesar gave 
public entertainments, at the celebration of four dif- 
ferent triumphs in the same month, at each of which 
22,000 tables w r ere spread, which flowed with Fa- 
lerman and Chian wine.-* 

The Romans had also mead, metheglin, and other 
fermented liquors: Pliny says, that nearly two hun- 
dred different sorts were in use; but among this 
number, it is to be presumed that he included the 
various denominations of wine. He speaks of a kind 
of beer that was made by fermenting several species 
of grain in water: and mentions it as an instance of 
the depravity of the times, that men, not satisfied 
with wine, contrived that even water should con- 
tribute to inebriate thcm.f Some of their wines 
they mixed with honey, and occasionally with sea- 



*' Chian -wine.'* Dr. Hill s*ays, that the usual price of the best 
Grecian wine did not exceed seven or eight pounds sterling a 
hogshead- but that an amphora, or nine gallons of similar qual- 
ity, when matured by age, sold for the same sum. Essays on 
Jinct. Greece* ess. xv. 

•\Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. xiv. c. 22. 



£gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

water,* and others were flavoured with an infusion 
of wormwood, saffron, myrrh, and various odorifer- 
ous herbs; spices were also employed to add their 
strength and pungency: hut it does not appear that 
they were acquainted with the distillation of ardent 
spirits. 

The fruits that are indigenous to the soil of Italy, 
are comparatively few, and those rich productions 
of nature which now flourish in such profusion un- 
der its genial climate, were chiefly acquired from the 
coasts of Barbary and the Levant. Even the Olive, 
which afterwards became so important an object of 
cultivation, was long a stranger to its shores, and 
was wholely unknown to the early Romans. In the 
remote ages, their gardens afforded little else than 
a scanty list of the most ordinary roots and pot- 
herbs, pulse> and the common trees of the orchard. 
At a later period, however, there is reason to sup- 
pose they were acquainted with most of the finer 
fruits and vegetables; but at what time they were 
successively introduced is uncertain; and, as the 
Romans applied the name of apple indiscriminately 
to every foreign fruit that bore a resemblance to it in 
form, only distinguishing them from each other by 
the name of the country whence they were derived, 
this portion of their horticulture is, in consequence, 
involved in considerable obscurity. Planting, graft- 
ing, and the various operations of the nursery and 
kitchen garden, were well understood, and diligently 
practised; but the important improvement of the 
forcing-house is of modern invention. 

Bees were objects of peculiar care: and, indeed, 
among a people who were unprovided with sugar, we 
inay imagine how highly honey must have been 



i { Sea-water' Proofs that the ancients sometimes mixed their 
wine with sea-water are to be found in various ancient authors, 
Some modern commentators say, that it was with a view to ren- 
der it lighter of digestion; others, that it was only added to 
wiue that was boiled, to accelerate its solution. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 gy 

prized, and how important its production to the in- 
terests of rural economy. 

Although it is certain, that the Romans did not 
m ike use of sugar, and that the cane will not arrive 
at maturity in the climate of Italy, we should yet 
be cautious how we admit the generally received in- 
ference, that they were entirely unacquainted with it, 
or even with the manner in which it is produced* 
For, they had a direct commercial intercourse, 
through Egypt and the Red Sea, with the coast of 
Malabar, whence they annually imported large quan- 
tities of silk, of jewelry, of spices, and of drugs; 
and, as many Roman merchants were personally en- 
gaged in this traffic, it is difficult to conceive how 
they could have remained wholly ignorant ot a sub- 
stance which is supposed to have been produced 
time immemorial in Ijidia.^ That it was not trans- 
ported to Rome, as an article of trade; may be ac- 
counted for by its great bulk and trifling comparative 
value, which must have formed serious objections 
with the merchant, if the defective communication 
between the countries was not of itself an insur- 
mountable obstacle. 

These observations would equally apply to coffee, 
which is an indigenous plant of Arabia Felix, and 
found in great abundance on the shores of the Red 
Sea, were it also certain that its cultivation for do- 
mestic purposes dated as far back as that of sugar. 
And even tea, may have been procured from China, 
whence it is supposed that the chief part of the silk 
thus imported was derived. 



*< India? — The Island of Ceylon-, — called Taprobana by the 
Romans, and Serendib by the Arahs — was the chief mart for 
this trade, which was conducted, by sea, from the Port of My- 
os-hormos on the Red Sea. 

The two great pearl fisheries were the same as at present — 
Ormuz and Cape Comorin. — Diamonds, it is supposed, were 
supplied from the mines of Jumelphur, in Bengal. 

Gibbon^ Dec. of the Horn, Emp, v» i. ch» 2. 



188 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

The foreign commerce of the Romans appears ve- 
ry unimportant when compared with the extensive 
mercantile transactions of our own times. They 
traded, it is true, not only to the East Indies, but to 
all the ports t>f the Mediterranean, and occasionally 
even to those of England. But, if we except the 
corn received on the account of government fn m 
Sicily and the Levant, their importations consisted 
of little else than articles of mere luxury: and, ha- 
ving no exportable manufactures of their own, nor 
any surplus product of the soil, their purchases were 
necessarily made in bullion; a medium which must, 
of itself, have narrowed the limits of their commer- 
cial dealings, if other causes also did not contribute 
to circumscribe them. The 'interests of commerce 
were little understood, and less appreciated: traffic 
was considered dishonorable, ajid they who engagtd 
in it were held in contempt: the consequence was, 
that men of capital would not openly devote them- 
selves to it, and it was relinquished to slaves and 
freed-men, who seldom possessed means to conduct 
it on an extensive scale. Their most important trade 
Was that already mentioned, to the coast of Malabar, 
yet its real annual amount fell short of a million 
sterling; but, thrdugh the imposts with which it was 
loaded, the vast expense at which it was conducted, 
and the enormous profits realized by those engaged 
in it, it has been computed that the goods cost the 
Italian consumer about one hundred times their ori- 
ginal value* 

Ih ir merchant-ships were of a size proportion- 
ed to the kind of coasting trade to which they were 
necessarily confined by the imperfect state of navi- 
gation which preceded the discovery of the Polar at- 
traction of the magnet;^ and, accordingly, we find 

* "Magnet" Although the ancients were unacquainted with 
the powers of the magnetic needle, yet they were not ignorant 
©f the attractive property of lode-stone; which is said to have 
been accidentally discovered by a peasant jvalking^ in hob-nailed* 
§hoes j over a rock of lode. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. |qq 

that, in the time of Caesar, vessels of this descrip- 
tion were considered large if they reached the burden 
of 50 tons. We read, indeed, of some being built by 
the Ptolemies of greater measurement than anv since 
known; one ship, which conveyed from Egvpt a cele- 
brated obelisk — jf one soli 1 Mock of granite 80 (set 
in length, that formerly stood in the circus of Nero, 
and is now erected before the church of St. Peter's — 
is said to have been ballasted with m >re than a thou- 
sand tons of grain; and another to have been 400 
Eaglish feet in length: but th<-se must be viewed as 
phenomena in the naval architecture of that period, 



CHAP. XIV, 



Music, and Musical Instruments — The H0"anncon.*-~ 
The Drama. — victors. — Dancers — Theatric Factions.— 
Theatres. — Jimph I theatres — The Colisaeum — Gladia* 
tors. — Combats of Wild beasts. — JYaamachice. 

The Romans are supposed to have derived their 
knowledge of music, as a science, from the Greeks;, 
but, as Rousseau has observed, when treating the 
subject of the Grecian songs, — '> this nation, more 
military than sensual, for a long time made but a 
very coarse use of music and lyric poetry; and in 
these particulars, never approached the voluptuous 
grace and elegance of the Greeks, It seems as if* 



140 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND? 



among the Romans, melody always remained in an 
unrefined state. Their hymeneal odes were rather 
noise and clamour than airs; and it is hardly to be 
presumed that the satirical songs of the soldiers, in 
the triumphs of their generals, consisted of a very 
agreeable melody." 

On the justice of this reflection we have not the 
means of deciding, as, unfortunately, no specimens 
of Roman melodies have been preserved. But it is 
certain, that their instrumental music was extremely 
circumscribed, as the only stringed instrument they 
possessed was the ciihara — a kind of lyre, or small 
harp — of which there were, indeed, several varieties 
of form, but all on the same principle, and probably 
requiring but little difference in the mode of execu- 
tion. 

Tbeir wind instruments were more numerous; but 
fr m the descriptions which have reached us of some 
of them, and from what may be collected respecting 
others from representations in ancient statuary, it is 
not to be presumed that they possessed the compass 
and modulation of those with which we are ac- 
quainted. They consisted chiefly, of the ancient 
shepherd's pipe, or syrinx: — of various kinds of 
flutes; which appear, however, to have been usually 
played Hrith a mouth piece, or reed, in the manner of 
our hautboy- and sometimes to have consisted of a 
double tube: — of horns; of which little more is known 
than what may be conjectured from the name: — of 
trumpets of various powers: — and the bag-pipes, with 
which (although the fact has been disputed) it ap- 
pears certai i that they were acquainted. 

They seem also to have made some approach to- 
wards the invention of the organ, in an instrument, 
of which the following description is extracted from 
a recent tfc History of Music," from the pen of Dr« 
Busby, 

The most extraordinary of the wind instruments^ 
or, indeed, of any other kind, is the hydraulic on, or 
water-organ; an instrument so denominated;, be* 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^^ 

cause it was performed upon, or at least blown by 
water. From a description given by Vitruvius, it 
would seem, that the water, by which the air was 
impelled into the pipes, was put in motion by pumps. 
The question whether it was played with the fingers, 
or its tones modulated by some mechanical means, 
has excited considerable dispute. Claudian speaks 
of it in terms which, if we overlook what alludes to 
its being filled by water instead pf wind, would 
describe a modern organ: — 

"Vel qui magna levi detmdens murniura iaciu 
Innumeras voces segetis moderator aense 
Intonet errahti dig to % penitusque traball 
Vecte laborantes in carmina concitet undas." 

"With flying fingers, as they lightsome bound, 
From brazan tubes he draws the pealing sound. 
Unnurnber'd notes the captive ear surprise, 
And swell and thunder as his art he plies: 
The beamy bar he heaves! the waters wake! 
And liquid lapses liquid music make." 

Busby, 

"Athenaeus, who gives a description of this instru- 
ment, says it was invented, in the time of the second 
Ptolemy Evergetes, by Ctcsibius, a native of Alexan- 
dria. Ctesibius, however, cannot properly be call- 
ed the inventor of the Hydraulic organ, since it is 
but an improvement upon Plato's clepsydra or water- 
clock, that played upon flutes the hours oi the night 5 
at a time when they could not be seen on the index, 

"The most satisfactory idea that can be formed of 
this instrument, is furnished by a large beautiful 
medallion of Valentinian, in the collection of anti- 
quities bequeathed to the Vatican by Christina, Queen 
oi Svveden. On the reverse of this relic is repre- 
sented an hydraulic organ, with two men, one on 
the right, and one on the left, who appear to pump 
the water which plays, and to be listening to ths 



143 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



sound. It has only eight pipes, placed on a round 
pedestal; and has neither keys nor performers." 

The only other instruments with which they ap- 
pear to have been acquainted, were the cymbal, and 
various kinds of drums, one of which seems to 
have borne a close resemblance to the tambourine. 

The dramatic entertainments of the Romans ap- 
pear to have been always accompanied with music. 
They originally, indeed, consisted in little more 
than dances to the sound of the flute. Dialogue was 
only gradually introduced: at first, in coarse, and fre- 
quently obscene, couplets, which obtained the name 
of fescennine verses, from the name, as it is suppos- 
ed, of the city whence they originated;^ afterwards, 
in satires, still accompanied with music and danc- 
ing; and it was not until about the year of Rome 
512, that an attempt was made to represent a regular 
comedy. From this period the drama progressively 
improved, and the plays which still exist sufficiently 
attest the excellence to which this species of compo- 
sition arrived: while the fortunes acquired by some 
of the actors afford abundant proof of the estimation 
in which the histrionic art v/as held, notwithstanding 
that, according to the Roman law, the profession of 
an actor was declared infamous, and those who prac- 
tised it were deprived of the rights of citizens. 

The Roman comedy was, at first wholely borrow- 
ed from the Greeks, and it was long before the La- 
tin stage could boast of an original composition. 
Wh^n delivered from the trammels of imitation, tliejr 
plays became more descriptive of Roman character 
and manners; but it may be doubted whether they 
did not lose more in purity of taste than they gained 



*'Fescennine verses' The generally received opinion is, that 
these verses took their name from Fece?mia, a city of Etruria, 
now Gale sa, in the ecclesiastical states. But, according* to Ma" 
crobms, it is derived from the word Fascinum, a charm — -and 
the. verses were originally used as a protection against witchcraft. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS, 



143 



in originality, for we find, that the stage degenerated 
soon after the fall of the republic, and was at length 
abandoned to dancers and buffoons. The change 
has, indeed, been ascribed to the policy of the em- 
perors, who are said to have encouraged the repre- 
sentation of low comedy and pantomime, in order to 
divert the attention of the lower classes of the pub- 
lic from the measures of government: but we may 
reasonably presume, that it could not have been so 
easily effected, had not the decline of dramatic ge- 
nius itself led the way to it. 

' Tragedy was not introduced, at Rome, until long 
after comedy was known; and the pieces still extant 
are so few, as to afford but little means of judging 
of the general merit of their tragic muse. 

The play was usually succeeded by a farce, which 
was performed by amateurs. These were styled 
Atellane comedies; in which the actors, not speaking 
from any written dialogue, trusted to the spontane- 
ous effusion of their own fancy: a licence which they 
frequently abused by the introduction of much gross 
ribaldry. The performers in the Atellana could not 
be compelled by the audience to unmask; nor were 
they like common actors, deprived of their civil 
rights. % L 

Interludes, of dancing and processions, of exhibi- 
tions of animals 5 * and combats of gladiators, were 
generally introduced between the acts; and these, to- 
gether with pantomimical representations, tumbling, 
and rope-dancing, constituted so great a portion of 
the entertainment, that they at length superseded the 
regular drama. 

The actors wore masks descriptive of the charac- 
ters they represented. The origin of the custom 



*' 'Animals? Whether the animals exhibited on the stage 
were usually trained to perform tricks, does not distinctly ap- 
pear; but there is no doubt that the Emperor Galba possessed an 
elephant which walked upon a rope stretched across the thea- 
tre. 



144 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

has been attributed to a celebrated tragedian, who is 
said to have adopted it to- conceal the defect of 
squinting; but it was, more probably borrowed from 
the Greeks. The interior of the mask was lined 
with metal,- or with horn, in such manner as materi- 
ally to assist thr power of the voice; and its use was 
rendered in some measure necessary by the vast 
size of their roofless theatres, in which, without 
some such assistance, they must have been inaudible 
$o the greater part of the audience. Yet, as they 
must have been destructive of that great charm of 
superior acting — the expression of the countenance 
— it is difficult to imagine how their eminent per- 
formers could, while so disguised, have acquired the 
reputation they enjoyed. We may therefore be al- 
lowed to suppose, that the idea of their having been 
employed on all occasions, is erroneous; and partly 
to be attributed to a custom which prevailed, of pre- 
fixing to the pieces the figure of the mask, together 
with the dramatis personse, which^was, perhaps, in- 
tended more as an indication of the character, to the 
reader, than as a representation of what was actual- 
ly exhibited on the stage. However this may be, it 
is certain that they were generally used, at least by 
inferior actors: and, as the f?male characters were 
performed by men, they then contributed to heighten 
the illusion. In such pieces too as the Mencechmi 
of Plautus — from which Shakespeare's Comedy of 
Errors is taken— in which the intricacy of the plot 
turns on the mistake of one person for another, the 
use of masks would contribute to give an air of 
greater probability to the incidents. 

Another singular custom prevailed on the Roman 
stage — the occasional division of the same part be- 
tween two actors, the one reciting, while the other 
accompanied him with the appropriate gestures. 
But it was probably confined to - the recitation of 
verse, or single speeches; for we do not find that it 
was applied to dialogue, and it was originally intro- 
duced for the convenience of a favorite performer 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. *m~ 

who was rendered hoarse by his obedience to reiter- 
ated calls of "encore." 

Comedians wore a low-heeled shoe, called a sock, 
that merely covered the foot; Tragedians, a high 
buskin that reached to the mid leg: whence these 
words are used to denote the different styles of com- 
edy and tragedy. Pantomimic actors usually per- 
formed barefooted,* but on some occasions they wore 
wooden sandals. The professed dancers used casta- 
nets, which they played in unison with the music, 
in the manner still practised in the Peninsula, and 
some parts of Italy: and it appears, both, that the 
chief female dancers were Spaniards, of the province 
of Andalusia, and, that the style of their dancing 
was then as. remarkable as now for its voluptuous- 
ness. 

It is generally imagined, that the national dances 
of Spain were introduced into that country by the 
Moors: and the certainty, that dances equally licen- 
tious haye been known time immemorial in the East, 
has been adduced as proof corroborative of the sup- 
position. But that fact will not apply to Barbary, 
whence the Moors invaded Spain; nor dG the dances 
of the East bear any resemblance to those of the 
Peninsula, except in their lasciviousness; while a 
striking similarity prevails between the latter and the 
SaltereUo, as danced at this day by the lower classes 
of people in the Ecclesiastical states* We, there- 
fore, shall not commit any great outrage on probabil- 
ity if we hazard the conjecture, that the same fan- 
dango and bolero which charm the present audiences 
of Madrid, once contributed to the amusement of 
the inhabitants of ancient Rome. 

Th - audience testified their applause, or censure, 
in the modern manner, and espoused the pretensions 
of differenc actors with so much heat, that the re- 
presentation was often interrupted by their disputes, 
and quarrels ensued which not unfrequentiy termi- 
nated in bloodshed. Such, indeed, was the partiality 
of the people to' theatrical amusements, that every 

O 



14» 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



eminent player had his party, and their absurd fac- 
tions rendered the theatre a constant scene of riot 
&nd disorder. Persons ot the highest rank took 
part in these brawls, which were at length carried so 
far as to attract the attention of the senate; and, in 
the reign of Tiberias, the players were, in conse- 
quence, banished from Italy. The drama never re- 
covered this blow: but dancers and buffoons gradual- 
ly found means to return to the stage; of which they 
afterwards kept entire, and undisputed possession. 

The extraordinary, and somewhat ridiculous, in- 
fluence acquired by the actors* excites the more sur- 
prise, as we are told that, although courted by the 
great, and liberally rewarded by the public,^ they 
never were freed from the restraints of the law; 
which, as has been already observed, held their pro- 
fession to be infamous; and, indeed, the majority of 
those who embraced it were slaves. Even Augus- 
tus, who was their greatest protector, ordered one 
celebrated comedian to be publicly whipped through 
the theatres for having presumed to intrigue with a 
Roman matron; and banished another from Italy for 
affronting one of the audience who hissed him. 

Scenic exhibitions were, for a long time, held to 
be subversive of the morals of the people; and, so 
late as the year of Home 599, a decree passed the 
senate prohibiting the erection of theatres within a 
mile of the city. But this prejudice gave way in 



; ^'Liberally rewarded by the public.'' Although it is certain that 
the principal actors acquired large fortunes, which must have 
been derived from the public bounty, it yet does not appear in 
what manner this was bestowed. They probably profited largely 
by exhibiting their talents at private entertainments. That 
their public engagements were not very lucrative may be con- 
jectured from the fact, that a law was enacted, in the reign of 
the Emperor M. Antonius, which limited the rewards usually 
given to them on extraordinary occasions to ten aurei, or about 
eight guineas. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. £47 

process of time, and it is well known upon what a 
colossal scale of magnificence those edifices were af- 
terwards constructed. The first permanent building 
erected for this purpose within the city, was calculat- 
ed to contain 40,000 spectators, and others were 
afterwards raised of still more stupendous dimen- 
sions. They were, at first, open at the top, and 
awnings were used to guard against the sun and 
rain; nor were the audience accommodated with 
seats; but, at a later period, they were covered, and 
built with regular rows of stone benches, rising 
above each other, and divided according to the rank 
of those who were to occupy them. The lowest 
rows were appropriated to the senators and foreign 
ambassadors, the next fourteen to the knights, and 
the remainder to the public; and it appears, that the 
foremost seats were covered with cushions, while 
those assigned to the lower classes were left bare. As 
all were equally admitted gratuitously, these dis- 
tinctions gave great offence to the people; and with 
the greater apparent reason, as they were not ob- 
served in the circus: but they were, nowithstanding, 
rigidly enforced, and inspectors were appointed at 
the theatres, who regulated the distribution of pla- 
ces according to the rank of the parties. The stage 
was constructed in much the same manner as at 
present, except that the orchestra was equally .ap- 
propriated to dancing and music. The scenery and 
decorations were generally of the most splendid de- 
scription, and were screened, during the intervals of 
the performance, by a silken curtain. 

The custom, so general at private entertainments, 
of sprinkling the apartments, and the guests with 
perfume, i-s allu led to bv.Ovid as being also usual 
at the theatres; the magnificence of which he thus 
contrasts with the rustic simplicity of those of older 
times: — 

'No .veils were then o'er marble structures spread^ 

No liquid odours on t h&&u dience shed; 

The nearest grove sdJPfted its choicest green^ 



448 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



And clustering branches formed the artless scene? 

"Rude seats of turf in-order rose around, 

Where sat the swains with oaken garlands crown'd. 

Gifford % Art of Love, b. L 

The gladiatorial combats were exhibited in amphi- 
theatres, which had seats all around, the stage being 
in the centre, and called the arena, in consequence 
of its being covered wkh sand to afford the combat- 
ants a firmer footing. The buildings, were at first, 
mere temporary erections of wood; as the shows 
were then only occasionally represented; but when 
these became more frequent, and regular, they were 
permanently constructed of stone. The largest was 
that called the coliscewn: it was 550 feet in length, 
470 in breadth, and in height 160; and was sur- 
rounded, to the top, by a portico resting on eighty 
arches, and divided into four stories, all open to the 
interior front, and the uppermost entirely exposed to 
the air. An arcade under each arch afforded a facil- 
ity of ingress and egress which prevented those ac- 
cidents that might otherwise have arisen from the 
pressure of the vast crowds by which it was fre- 
quented. The arrangement of the seats was similar 
to that in the theatres; and, as combats of wild 
beasts sometimes formed a part of the amusements, 
the arena was strongly fenced, and encircled by V 
canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks: 
these precautions, however, were not always suffi- 
cient, and instances occurred in which the animals 
sprang across the barrier. This huge pile was rear- 
ed by Vespasian and Titus, with a portion of the 
materials, and on the site of, Nero's golden palace: 
its form was oval, and it is supposed to have con- 
tained upwards of eighty thousand persons; a multi- 
tude that would stagger belief did not the vast ruins 
of the antique fabric still sufficiently attest the accu 
racy of the calculation. 

The amphitheatres were never roofed, but they 
were provided with awnings^gfad when these were 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. j^g 

insufficient, the people made use of umbrellas, and 
broad-brimmed hats, to protect them from the weath- 
er. • 

The gladiators were originally chosen from among 
the captives, or malefactors; then slaves were trained 
to the profession; and, when the encouragement 
which it afterwards received rendered it lucrative, it 
was adopted by many free persons. They were 
largely recompensed for any signal act of bravery, 
and, when they had particularly distinguished them- 
selves, or had grown old in the service, they were 
permitted to retire on a pension; but the . public fa- 
vor, with which their exertions was rewarded, never 
prevented their employment from being looked upon 
with abhorrence, and stigmatized with infamy. 

They fought with various weapons, and it was 
customary to oppose those to each other whose arms 
and manner of engaging were most dissimilar. 
Some appeared in complete armour, and others 
were only provided with a trident, and a net in 
which they endeavoured to entangle their adversary, 
whom they then instantly slew; if foiled in the attempt, 
their only resource was in flight, and if overtaken - 
by their opponent before they had adjusted the net 
for a second cast, their own fate was promptly de- 
cided. But when a gladiator was only wounded, he 
lowered his sword in token of submission, and his 
doom then depended on the will of the spectators, 
who pressed down their thumbs if they chose to save 
. him, but held them up if it was their pleasure that 
«he should be slain. Incredible as it may appear, this 
li inhuman signal was very commonly given; always, 
indeed, if the unforftftiate man betrayed either inex- 
pertness or timidity; and it was only when his skill 
and courage seemed to promise future sport that his 
life was spared. The wretched victim seldom offer- 
ed further resistance: he was even expected to re- 
ceive the fatal stroke in a becoming posture; nnd 
when killed or even mortally wounded, he was drag- 
ged, with a hook, from the arena, and thrown into 

2 



150 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



a common receptacle for the carcasses of the misera- 
ble beings* who Were thus slaughtered. His oppo- 
nent was crowned with pakn, and cheered by the 
plaudits of the barbarians, who found diversion in 
this scene of murder; and who, not content with the 
sacrifice of one fellow creature, glutted their thirst 
of blood with repeated combats which lasted from the 
morning until night. Nor le't it be supposed that 
these brutal exhibitions were confined to the rabble 
of Rome: the most distinguished among the knights 
and patricians, the very magistrates and consuls, 
the emperors themselves, and even females of rank, 
sanctioned them by their presence., and joined in the 
cruel signal of destruction- Nay, so far was the 
ferocious mania carried, that, some of the young no- 
bility actually entered the lists on the arena* them- 
selves, and contended, as amateurs, with the com- 
mon herd of prize-fighters. 

The first public combats of gladiators took place 
at Rome in. the close of the fifth century from the 
foundation of the city, when they were exhibited by 
two brothers — named Brutus*— at the funeral of their 
•father. From that period they became frequent, on 
such occasions, and in process of time they were in- 
troduced into the entertainments given to the people 
by the magistrates on public festivals, and even by in- 
dividuals who were desirous of acquiring popularity. 2 ^ 
At length they constituted so material a portion of 
those festivities, that ten thousand gladiators are 
said to have fought in Rome alone dr.nng the cele- 
bration of Trajan's triumph over the Dacians; and. 
such Was the waste of human life occasioned by these 



* 'The- Emperor Gordi an, while yet only a private citizen, is 
said to have presented, on more than one occasion, five hun- 
dred pairs of purchased gladiators to the public games: 

'Where, influenced by the rabble's bloody will, 
With thumbs bent back they popularly krll ' 

Dryderfs Juvenal^ sat, ii.L 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



151 



barbarous shows throughout the provinces, that in 
Europe only, upwards of twenty thousand men have 
perished by them in one month. Some checks were 
occasionally imposed on them: first by a law, procur- 
ed by Cicero; to prevent their being exhibited by any 
candidate For office, and secondly by an edict of Au- 
gustus to confine them to certain periods of the year; 
but these were afterwards rescinded, and only Serve 
to olace in a broader light the sanguinary disposition 
of the people .for whom such restraints wt re neoessa- 
ry. They were prohibited during the reign ot Con- 
stand ne: but so strong was the predilection ot the 
public in their fav >ur, that neither the mandate of 
th Emperor,' nor the introduction of Christianity, 
could entirely suppress them, until the irruption of 
the Goths, un ler Alaric, put a stop to every species 
ot diversion throughout Italy. Thus, during the 
space of nearly seven centuries, were these inhuman* 
spectacles suffered to corrupt and brutalize the man- 
ners of the people*; and, in the polished capital of 
the civilized world, multitudes of human beings 
were sacrificed to a depravity of taste which has no 
parallel in the annals of savage nations. 

Of the combats of wild beasts, little more is 
known than, that vast numbers of different animals, 
both foreign and domestic, were tnus destroyed; 
eleven thousand are said to have been killed during 
the celebration of Trajan's triumph, to which allu- 
sion has been already made, and five hundred lions 9 
in a few days, on another similar occasion. 

We should feel disposed to doubt the possibility 
of collecting together such vast numbers of those an- 
imals, did we nat recollect the wide extent of Afri- 
can territory that was tributary to the Romans after 
the subjugation of Carthage^ the arid wastes of 
which were only inhabited by wild beasts; and were 
we not acquainted with the fact that, during the 
reign of the emperor Commodus, lions were pro- 
tected as roval game, and whoever killed one, al- 
though in self'defence^ was subject to a heavy penal- 



im 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



ty. But Com modus was a sportsman of no com- 
mon order, and if we may credit the records of his 
feats in the arena,* was alone, equal to the destruc- 
tion of the whole tenants of a forest. * 

Such Was the spirit engendered by the scenes of 
blood with which the people were familiarized, that 
malefactors, and unfortunate Christians, during the 
period of persecution against them, were compelled 
to risk their lives in those unequal contests. And in 
the time of Nero, Christians were dressed in skins^ 
and, thus disguised, were forced to contend with 
dugs, and other ferocious animals, by which they 
were devoured. Without positive evidence, it would 
be unjust to rank among the amusements of the Ro- 
man people, an atrocity, from the very contempla- 
tion of which the mind recoils with horror; but we- 
have the undoubted authority of Tacitus for the fact, 
that these, and even greater- cruelties, were com- 
mitted! and a passage in Juvenal—though variously 
interpreted — iseems to warrant the conclusion that 
the arena? of the amphitheatres were the polluted 
scenes of their consummation.^ 



^Scenes of their consummation 9 Tacitus, speaking* of the cru- 
elties inflicted on the Christians by Nero, says, that they were 
not only clothed. in skins and then hunted by dogs, but smeared 
with some inflammable substance and burned as torches during' 
the night. His words are: — ( et pereuntibus addita ' ludibria, tit 
ferarum tergis contecii laniatu canum interirant, aut crudbus affixi y 
aut Jiammandi, alque, tibi deficisset dies, in usiim riocturni himinis 
urerentur. Ann.. 1. xv. c. 44 and in another part he says, that 
(his took place in the circus. 

The passage in Juvenal, toVhich allusion has been made,, is 
as follows:— 

'Pone Tigellinum, t<edd lucebis in ilia, 
Qua stantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant, 
Mt lutus mediant Sulcus diducet Ai enam. 9 

Sat. L 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



153 



There were also aquatic theatres, termed Nauma- 
chice^ — the centre of which presented, in lieu of an 
arena, a spacious pool — where naval engagements 
were exhibited. But the mimic representation of a 
battle, and the mere semblance of bloodshed, could 
not satisfy the prevailing passion for the horrible, 
and in these also the devoted actors were constrained 
to oppose each other in mortal strife.. 



and has been thus translated: — • 

'But let great Tigellinus be his theme: 
Then shall he, smear'd with pitch, and wrap'd in fire* 
In fierce convulsions, at the 'stake expire; 
Or, thro' the furrow'd sand, be dragged to doom, 
Of beasts the prey, to please the mob of Rome/ 

Owen. 

'But glance at Tigellinus, and you shine, 
Chain' d to a stake, in pitchy robes, and lfght, 
Lugubrous torch, the deepening shades of night; 
Or,, writhing on a hook, are dragg'd around, 
And, with your mangled members, plough the ground.* 

Gifford. 

It will be perceived, that neither of these translations con= 
vey the literal meaning of the original; nor indeed, would 
that be possible, as it can only be understood by inference, and 
even the Latin text is subject to various readings. But they are 
selected from a great number, in order to show the impression 
under which they Were written; and although they do not ex- 
pressly assign the amphitheatre as the scene,, yet both the 
lea. ned translators aftmit, in their notes, that such was their, 
"construction of the passage. It is not, indeed, easy to ascr.be, 
with any degree of probability, another meaning to the word 
Meiia> which, it must be observed, was universally used synon- 
ymously with amphitheatre > 



154 



CHAP. XV. 



Male Attire.— The Toga.— The Virile Robe.— The Tu- 
nic. — Linen. — Hats and Caps. — Drawers — Stockings. 
— Sandals. — Buskins. — Gloves. — Mode of Wearing 
the Hair and Beard.— Wigs. — Ear -rings. — Seals, — 
Rings — Ornaments of Senators and Knights. — Mill' 
tary Uniform. 

The original dress of the Romans, of both sexes, 
was the toga. It was a round and ample robe, open 
in front to the waist, but closed at the bottom, and 
without sleeves. It envelopped the whole body; and, 
leaving the right arm at liberty, was drawn over the 
left shoulder, on which it was gathered .into a knot, 
from which a large lappet fell over the breast, on 
which it was so arranged as to form a kind of pock- 
et. It was formed of woollen cloth, the quality 
and size of which varied as taste or circumstances 
directed. Horace represents a rich man as seriously 
admonishing one of more slender revenue not to at- 
tempt to vie with him in the s^ze of his robe: and he 
exclaims with indignation against # an upstart who 
displayed his wealth in a toga of six ells * It was * 
worn in various toids over the arm and upon the 
breast, and their arrangement appears to have beeW 
an object: of no common attention: indeed, of such 
importance were these .graces' considered, that the 



Ilovat. Epist. 1. i. ep. IS^—Epod. ep. 4. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 455 

learned Quintillian explains, at considerable length, 
the manner in which a barrister should display his 
robe, so as to increase the effect ot his pleading; 
and the orator Hortensius, when consul, made a 
public, and serious complaint to the judges, of his 
colleague in office, for having pressed against him in 
a narrow passage, and deranged the folds of his 
dress. 

The form of the toga was the same for every con- 
dition of citizen, and the colour generally adopted 
was plain white; but the latter was varied, in some 
instances, and ornaments were added according to 
the rank of the wearer. Thus, that which was 
Worn by generals, when they entered Rome in tri- 
umph, was a tissue of purple and embossed gold, 
with an embroidery of palm leaves; and that used 
by the knigh:s, at their general review, in the ides 
of July, was of purple striped with scarlet and white, 
which had formerly been the habit of the ancient 
kings. The sacerdotal and magisterial toga, was 
bordered with purple: this was cailed the prcetextan- 
robe, and it was also worn, by young persons of 
family, with the addition of a golden ball upon the 
breast, pendant from a collar. They took it at 
twelve years of age, previous to which they were 
clothed in a vest with sleeves: girls wore it until 
they were married; boys, until they were invested 
with the virile- robe. 

The investiture of the ioga-mrilis was a ceremony 
of great solemnity; as well as festivity. The friends 
and relatives of the youth being assembled on the 
occasion, he w T as stripped of the prcetextan-robe, 
and the golden ball was consecrated to the Lares. 
He was then clothed in a toga of pure white, without 
ornament, and conducted by the whole company, 
followed by the servants and retainers ot his house 
and near connexions, to the capital, where prayers 
and sacrifices were offered to the gods. Thence he 
was taken with the same parade, to the Forum, 
to make his public entry into the world on that spot 



£gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

where probably the most important scenes of his fu- 
ture life were to be acted. After which the day 
was concluded with a feast, to which the depedants 
of the family were admitted, and presents were dis- 
tributed among the guests. 

During the early period of the republic, young 
men were not allowed to take the virile- robe until the 
completion of their seventeenth year. But the indul- 
gence of parents afterwards relaxed this rule, and, un- 
der the emperors, it was frequently granted to boys of 
more tender age; Augustus gave it to his grandsons 
in their fifteenth year, and Nero .was only fourteen 
when he received it from Claudius. Although it was 
viewed as the distinctive sign of manhood, and those 
who adopted it were from that time admitted into the 
society of men, ytt they were only considered as en- 
tering upon a noviciate, which did not entitle them 
to the privileges- of that rank until more mature ex- 
perience gave them a better claim to the distinction: 
whence they were called Tyros.* which was the 
name applied to the cadets of the army, and to sol- 
diers during their first campaign, and is still used by 
us in a similar, though more general, sense. 

The colour of the common toga being white, and 
the staff woolen, they were, necessarily, cleansed by 
fullers; and as that operation required more frequent 
repetition than was sometimes convenient, they Were 
not always of the most delicate appearance; But on 
festivals, it was otherwise: and those \v r ho aspired to 
employments in the State, made a point of appearing 
in robes of resplendent whiteness, which was height- 
ened by the application of chalk. Their superior 
lustre obtained for these, the distinctive appelation 
of togce candidae, and far those who wore them, that 
of candidate which has' descended to modern com- 
petitors for office. 

When citizens, accused of any crime, were sum- 
moned to appear before the Judges, both they, and 



"Tyros," Lat. Tirones. 



INSTITUTIONS OF TttE ROMANS. ^gw 

their relations and clients, all appeared in old and 
soiled robes, in order to excite compassion. It was 
also usual for all persons to dress thus in times of 
public calamity. But this must not be confounded 
with the family mourning, which was black, or, ac- 
cording to some authors, iron-grey. 

Every Roman citizen had a right to wear the toga? 
it was, nevertheless, considered as a dress of cere- 
mony, and in some measure, as a mark of a superi- 
ority; and the lower classes seldom wore more than 
the tunic, or under-dress. It was also usual to throw 
it aside in the house; and it was rarely worn in the 
country: but in the city, and in all public places, it 
would have been deemed indecorous in any one above 
the rank of a plebeian to appear without it; and in 
foreign countries, it was worn as a distinction. In- 
deed, so much importance did the Romans attach to 
it, that exiles were deprived of the right to wear it 
during the term of their banishment. Germanicus 
having appeared without it, in Egypt, was repriman- 
ded by Tiberius for the neglect, as a want of respect 
to the customs of his country: as Scipio Africanus 
had been, by his fellow citizens, for a similar omis- 
sion at Syracuse. * • 

But under the Emperors, the toga began to fall 
into disuse: already, in the reign of Augustus, the 
middle classes wore it no longer, or those who contin- 
ued it generally appeared with a cloak over it. Au- 
gustus was indignant at the innovation, and gave or- 
ders that no citizen should be allowed to enter the 
circus, or the forum, but in a toga alone: but conve- 
nience prevailed over his commands, and both the 
use oT the cloak became very general, and its orna- 
ments very splendid. Hadrian, also endeavoured to 
enforce the continuance of the toga, and required of 
the senators and knights that they should never ap- 
pear abroad without it: he himself setting the example, 
by constantly wearing it,, even at table, although 
that was contrary to established usage. Notwith- 
standing these efforts in favour of the ancient cos- 

P 



1 53 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

tume, few, except the great, and their immediate 
dependants, retained the use of it after this period; 
and the caprices of taste and fashion, aided by an 
extended intercourse with foreign nations, contributed, 
afterwards, to the introduction of various changes 
in their dress, which it would be both tedious and 
uninteresting to describe. 

There was one peculiarity attending the toga, 
which, however, deserves notice:- — it was fashioned 
in the loom, and was so nearly ready for use when 
it left the hands of the weaver, that when once the 
seam was fastened which connected it at the bottom, 
it required no further attention from the tailor. Of 
the exact quality of the materials of which it was 
formed, we are necessarily ignorant; but it appears, 
that the Romans were not acquainted with those 
modern means of dressing cloth which consist in 
shearing and pressing, and to which it owes much 
of its present elegance. 

Both men and women wore a close woolen vest — 
called a tunic — underneath the toga; but with this 
difference, at first, that those of the men reached 
only to the knees, while those worn by the women 
fen Ct> their feet, and had sleeves; which would, then, 
have been considered an effeminacy in men, although, 
at a later period, they were universally adopted: the 
dress was, indeed, altogether unknown to their an- 
cestors, who in the early ages, wore no other cover- 
ing than the toga. The tunic was fastened round the 
waist with a girdle, which served also as a purse, 
and it was considered slovenly to appear in public 
without it. Under this outer tunic, most people 
wore another of a lighter texture, which served them 
in lieu of a shirt; but this also was woollen; for it 
was not until the time of the Emperors that linen 
Was introduced. It was first brought from Egypt, and 
whether from its coarseness, or its rarity, mad^ its 
way but slowly into public estimation; and so little 
were its real qualities understood, or appreciated, 
that, even in the third century, ijt was usually inter- 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



159 



woven with stripes of purple and gold-thread, by 
which its softness was entirely destroyed. 

The Romans did not usually wear hats: not that 
their use was unknown; or that they were unprovided 
with them; for they had various kinds of both hats 
and caps-; but it was only customary to wear them 
on journies, or at the public games; and, in the city, 
they usually went bearheaded, or covered themselves 
with a comer of the toga. When they began to 
wear a covering on the legs, they, in lieu of stockings, 
wore bandages of cloth or linen; but even this in- 
dulgence was looked upon as effeminate, and could 
only be excused on the plea of iilness. Neither did 
they wear breeches:* but with the military dress, 
and when riding, they used tight drawers, which 
did not reach to the knee. It was doubtless, in al- 
lusion to this want of an under covering, that Caesar 
is represented as arranging his robe at the moment 
of his assassination, — t<! that he might fall with de- 
cency." 

On the feet, both men and women wore, either 
sandals, — which were shoe soles fastened with thongs 
of leather across the foot; or buskins, reaching near- 
ly to the calf, and open in front from the instep up- 
wards, where they were laced close to the leg: the 
shoe-part terminated in a point which bent upwards. 
Cork soles and high heels were general: nor was 
the fashion confined to the ladies: the priests always 
wore them: on the stage also, and in public ceremo- 
nies, when an extraordinary degree of dignity was 
assumed, they were commonly used; and even Au- 
gustus condescended to add to his stature by these 
means. The buskins were, at first, made of un- 
dressed leather; then, of fine skins of different kinds; 
afterwards, of woollen, linen, and even silk of dif- 
ferent colours; and finally, they were decorated with 

* "Breeches" were adopted, at a later period, in imitation of 
thfi Gauls. There is a-i edict of the emperor Honor* us, prohib- 
iting the use of foreign dresses, among which they are mentioned* 



160 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



embroidery. Persons of patrician rank wore an or- 
nament, of silver, on the instep, in the form of a 
crescent; and the buskins of senators were always 
black. 

It has been doubted whether the Romans wore 
gloves: they are, however, alluded to by various 
ancient authors, and the younger Pliny expressly 
mentions them. # But there is one appendage to 
modern dress, so indispensable to delicacy, that it 
is difficult to conceive how it could have been over- 
looked; and yet it no where appears that they were 
acquainted with the use of the pocket- hand- kerchief* 
Some men of distinction, indeed, but chiefly barris- 
ters, wore pendent from the neck, a long slip of linen 
— -called a Sudariumt but this was only used, as its 
implied, to wipe perspiration from the face; and could 
not, from the situation in which it was worn, have 
been employed for any less delicate purpose. 

During the early ages of the commonwealth the 
Romans allowed their hair and beards ta grow, 
merely clipping them occasionally as necessity requi- 
red. The custom of shaving w&s not introduced 
until the middle of the fifth century, when, as we are 
told by Livy,f barbers were first brought from Sicily. 
After that period, it became fashionable to wear the 
hair short, curled, and perfumed with the greatest 
care, and the beard close shaved, until the time of 
Hadrian, who, to hide some excrescences on his 
chin, revived the habit of wearing the beard: but it 
was dropped soon afterwards, and was never resort- 
ed to except in time of mourning, when it was cus- 
tomary to let both the hair and beard grow. 

Young persons, of both sexes, wore the hair twisted 
into a knot on the crown of the head; but when boys 
took the toga, it was cut short, and part was thrown 
into the fire in honour of Appollo, part into the water 
as an offering to Neptune. The first clippings of 
the beard were preserved with much care, and con-- 

* Plin. Epist. 1 iii. ep. 5 a . 
f Ttt. Liv. 1. v, c. 41* • 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. |gj 

secrated to some divinity: there was no fixed period 
for this solemnity, but whenever it occurred, it was 
a day of great ceremony and rejoicing. 

It is well known that the ancient philosophers 
allowed their beards to grow; less, at first, through 
affectation than indifference; butin time, they preserv- 
ed them as a mark of gravity and wisdom, and a 
long beard became so essential an appendage to phi- 
losophic dignity, that Lucian mentions one of them, 
who being a candidate for a professor's chair, was 
considered incompetent to fill it on account of the 
scantiness of the honours of his chin. 

Baldness was looked upon as a deformity, and to 
conceal it, wigs were invented about the time of the 
first emperors. We are told, that Otho had a kind 
of scalp of fine leather, with locks of hair upon it so 
well arranged as to appear natural; yet Domitian, 
who reigned some years after him, did not find means 
to hide his want of hair, though so mortified by it 
that he could not bear to hear the subject of baldness 
mentioned. The chevalier Folard asserts, — in his 
notes on Polybius,^ — that wigs were in use before 
the time of Hannibal; and he cites a passage, from 
that author, not only to prove, that Hannibal wore 
one himself, but to infer, from the manner in which 
the fact is related, that it was not then consid- 
ered a novelty. ' However that may be, it is cer- 
tain, that the custom was not introduced into Rome 
until the period already mentioned. It is, indeed, 
apparent, that it was unknown in the time of Julius 
Caesar; for, it is well understood, that he valued his 
crown of laurels, more as a covering for his baldness, 
than for the honour it conferred; and it may fairly be 
presumed, that if wigs had been generally worn, he 
would not have neglected so easy a method of con- 
cealing it. 

Caesar was, notwithstanding, a remarkably hand- 
some man: tall, and well made, of an open counten* 



* B. iii. ch. 16. 



163 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



ance, fair complexion, and fine dark eyes of great 
vivacity; and he was by no means inattentive to heigh- 
ten these advantages by those of dress. Contrary to 
general custom, he wore a flowing tunic which fell 
down to his feet, with sleeves which reached to the 
hands, and were edged with fringe; and, in his youth, 
he set the fashion of wearing ear-rings, which was 
previously confined to females, and to slaves, who 
Were chiefly distinguished in that manner from free- 
men: it continued to be general, among young men 
of family, until the time of Alexander Severus, who, 
himself adhering closely to a manly simplicity o£ 
dress, abolished this effeminate foppery. 

A plain ring, of iron or gold according to their 
rank, was^ during a long period, the only ornament 
worn by the men: the former belonged to the Plebe- 
ians. The golden ring was, originally, an honorary 
distinction peculiar to knights and senators; but, in 
time, it became common to all Roman citizens, and 
was even conferred by some of the emperors on 
their freed-men. This ring was worn on the third 
finger of the left hand, and it became usual to mount 
it with an engraved stone, f which served at once as 
seal and signature: it was in this manner affixed 
to their public acts, and their letters were merely 
sealed with it without being signed. The custom 
was of the remotest antiquity: Cicero mentions it as 
still existing in his time; and the method of signing 



f "Engraved Stone." The art of engraving on fine stones is 
one of very high antiquity. Lapidaries are mentioned, in the Old 
Testament, as exercising it in Egypt previous to the flight of 
the Israelites — Exodus, ch. xxviii. v. 9, 11. — and signets are 
mentioned as in use at the same time. 

M. de la Condamine mentions his having seen a cornelian in 
the cabinet of Baron Stoch, at Florence, that was supposed to 
be as old as the time ascribed to the Trojan war; and which con- 
tained, on a surface not larger than a common seal, the figures 
of the seven heroes of the Theban war, with their names i$ 
Greek* See 3 Mem, del 9 dead, Faris^XlST* 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. |(*g 

the name was not introduced until the accession of 
the emperors. 

Rings thus mounted, were engraved with various 
figures, and emblematical devices; Mecaeias had a 
fr.)g; Augustas a sphynx; and Otho a dog on the 
prvv of a shio. But th-se were n >t what we term 
armorial bearings; which were unknown to the Ho- 
rn ins — unless, indeed, the national eagle might be 

so considered nd do not appear to have become 

hereditarv in families until after the first crusade, 

O ice the fashion of wearing rings was generally in- 
troduced, it was carried, like most others at Rome, to 
an absurd extreme; they were worn on all the fingers, 
whi.h were rather loaded than ornamented with 
them, and they were changed according to the season^ 
—those for the winter being heavv and splendid, and 
for the summer, light and less costly. 

Senators and knights were also decorated with an 
ornament of purple on the breast of the tunic: it was 
called xlavu*: and as that of the senators was broader 
th in that of the knights, the tunic of the former was 
termed laticlavia y of the latter, august iclavi a . Com- 
mentators are not agreed in their description of this 
badge of distinction; or even whether it was not an 
entire garm-nt; but it is generallv supposed to have 
merely consisted in one or more stripes of embroiderv* 
From the reign of Augustus, the sons of senators 
were allowed to wear the laticlave, along with the 
virile robe. 

The militarv uniform, of the generals, was an open 
scarlet^ mantle, — termed chlnmys — thrown over the 



* a 



" Scarlet '* Although the word scarlet be employed, yet it 
must only be understood to mean a red colon?, probably far from 
possessing the brilliancy of the modern dve known by that name. 
We, indeed, possess no ccrain information respecting* the prep- 
aration of the Roman scarlet; but many circumstances lead to 
the conclusion that it was imperfect. It should also be under- 
stood, that the colour usually denominatf d purple by the Ro* 
nuns, was nther dark red of various shades, ancLviolet^ thaix 
the. tint known by that name at present* 



164? DOMESTIC MANNERS, &c. 

tunic, and fastened on the right shoulder, On their 
departure to join the army, they went, clothed in 
this robe, to the Capitol, to offer up their vows to the 
gods; but on their return, they entered the city clad 
only in the toga. Both officers and soldiers wore, 
over the cuirass, a loose uper coat, closed in front 
with clasps: it was called sagum^ and was generally 
adapted by the citiz ns, also, in times of public 
commotion. But during peace^ the military habit 
was entirely laid aside, except by those employed 
on active service; and offensive weapons of every 
kind were prohibited in Rome. 

The dress and arms of the soldiery were as vari- 
ous as the duties in which they were engaged: but 
an account of them, or of the organization of the 
armv does not come within the scope or intent of this 
brief narrative. 



165 



CHAPTER XVL 



Female Dress.— -Simplicity of the ancient style> and pro~ 
gressive Change — Attendants — 77? 2 dressing room—* 
Mirrors, — Head-dresses, — Powder — Cosmetics. — Arts 
of the Toilet. — The Tunic. — The S tola. —-Corsets — * 
Mantles — Materials, of dress. — Silk. — Muslin. — C&U 
ours.—Shoes and Buskins. — Jewelry. 

While the Romans were confined to a frugal 
and laborius life, it may naturally be supposed, 
that their wives partook of their cares, and were 
restrained to great simplicity of dress and manneis* 
Even at a later period, ladies of the first distinction 
were occupied in household duties, and the superin- 
tendance of their slaves and familn s: nor was the 
celebrated Cornelia — the daughter of the great Soipio, 
and the mother of the Gracchi — who, when asked 
to show her jewels, presented her children, a singu- 
lar instance of the domestic affections triumphing 
over the love of parade and dress. But when the 
men resigned the dignified plainness of their ancient 
manners for the foreign innovation of foppery and 
eff minate refinement, it may also be imagined, that 
the women were not slow in following their example. 

The Roman ladies usually bathed at an earlier hour 
than the men* Like them, they g-neraily made 



* "The Roman ladies usually bathed at an earlier hour than the 
wen" This would appear to be contradicted by a passage in the 
celebrated sixth satire of Juvenal, in which a lady is accused 
of keeping" her company waiting supper while she was at the 
bath 5 and even of being assisted by the common male attendant 



166 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



use of the public thermae, and even occasionally 
practised some of the athletic exercises to which 
such places were adapted. But they were attended, 
on those occasions, by their own servants, and, as 
the baths afforded the convenience of private apart- 
ments, they sometimes made use of them for all the 
purposes of the toilet. 

Ladies of distinction had numerous female atten- 
dants, to each of whom a separate department was 
assigned: thus, one was the hair-dresser, another 
had the care of the wardrobe, a third of the perfumes 
and paint, while a fourth adjusted the robes; and, in- 
stead of the indiscriminate appellation of waiting-maid, 
they were each distinguished by the name of their 
employment. There was, also a superior order, who 
formed the privy council of the dressing-room, and 
whose only duty was, to assist at the deliberations on 
the important business of decoration, and to decide on 
the contending claims of rival fashions. This cabinet 
was composed of the female parasites who attached 
themselves to women of fan k; and, if we may credit 
the poets, their office was far from being a sinecure. 
Juvenal, very ungallantly, accuses the ladies of his 
day of occasional fits of spleen, which, he says, they 
sometimes vented on their attendants; and even more 
than hints, that these little petulancies were, in 
some instances, provoked by the apprehension of 
being too late to attend the temple of isis — a conveni- 
ent goddess who presided over the mysteries of the 
rendezvous — or by embarrassments thrown in their 
way by the surly jealousy of ill-bred husbands: and 
his translators have rather heightened than softened 
the colours of the scene depicted by the Roman 
poet.^ But whatever truth there may have been in 
the original picture, should, in candour, be attributed 



of the thermes. There are also instances of females bathing 1 at 
the same time with men: but the usual practice was as stated io 
the text. 
* $e$ the sixth Satire of Juvenal, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 gy 

to the prevalence of slavery, which, by presenting 
human nature in a state of moral debasement, and 
affording constant opportunities for the exercise of 
uncontrolled dominion, must have insensibly led to 
impatience of contradiction, and irritability of tem- 
per. 

There is no account, in any of the ancient authors, 
of the interior arrangements of the ladies' dressing- 
rooms. Nor, however minute the descriptions which 
have been recorded of the separate parts oi their cus- 
tomary apparel, is it possible to follow them through 
all the revolutions of fashion, or to form more than a 
general idea of their united appearance. The same 
desire to please which actuates the modern belle, no 
doubt influenced the Roman beauty; for time and 
place make no other difference in a passion that has 
ever been the same, than in the manner of its display. 
We may therefore conclude, that the mysteries of 
the toilet, in ail their refinement, were not unknown 
in ancient Rome; and, indeed, some details which 
have been preserved, seem to prove, that if they 
were not as well understood, they were at least as 
sedulously attended to, then, as now. 

The dressing-table appears to have been provided 
with all its usual appendages, except that useful little 
modern instrument — the pin. But its inseparable 
ornament, the mirror, did not possess the advantage 
of being formed of glass, in lieu of which plates of 
polished metal were substituted. That looking- 
glasses were wholely unknown, has indeed been 
doubted, on the authority of an ancient author,^ who 
certainly distinctly alludes to their having been made 
in Egypt. But, although various articles of glass are 
enumerated among costly pieces of Roman furniture, 
mirrors are only mentioned among plate; and no dis- 
tinct account of the modern invention occurs until the 



* ' ' Ancient Author" Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. xxxvi. c* 26. See also, 
Caylus, Reoueil d\tintiauites — and Beckmantfs Hist, of Inventions, 
art. Mirrors. 



£gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

thirteenth century. Those anciently in use, are sup- 
posed to have been generally ot pure silver, although 
they are known to have been also composed of mixed 
metal; they were kept in cases to preserve their pol- 
ish, and were often sufficiently large to reflect the 
entire figure. 

No other head-dress was worn than the hair vari- 
ously arranged and ornamented; except, indeed, that, 
at one time, a cap, in the form of a mitre, was in 
vogue; but it soon fell into disuse with all but women 
of an abandoned character. The combs were of ivo- 
ry, or box, and sometimes at metal; and a heated 
wire was used, rouna which the hair was curled into 
the require i form. The most usual was to plait, 
and roil it as a bandeau round the head, on the crown 
of which it was fastened in a knot; and it became 
fashionable to raise these tresses so high, that they 
were hepped upon each other until they were reared 
into a kind of edifice of many stages, where — 

" With curls on curls, like different stories rise 
Her towering" locks, a structure to the skies." 

Owen's Juvenal, sat. vi. 

False hair was then had recourse to; which at length 
assumed the form of a wig; and, at one time, it 
was the mode to dress it in imitation of a military 
casque. The curls were confined with small chains, 
or rings, of t gold, and bodkins studded with precious 
stones. Fillets of purple, or white, riband, ornament- 
ed with pearls, were also worn on the head, and 
splendid jewels in the ears. There were some deco- 
rations tor the head which were considered pecu- 
liarly indicative of female decorum: such was a plain 
broad riband with which some matrons tressed their 
hairj others appertained exclusively to particular 
families; but it is probable that these distinctions were 
soon lost, or confounded in the m^ze of fashion. 
During the early part of the commonwealth, ladies 
never appeared abroad without a veil; but it was 
gradually laid aside as the reserve of their manners 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS, ^gg 

declined, and was eventually only used for mere or- 
nament, or convenience. 

Fair hair was the most esteemed, and both men 
and women used to stain it with a flaxen dye. Va- 
rious essences were used to perfume and give it 
lustre, and, sometimes, it was powdered with gold 
dust to render it still more resplendent. This latter 
modei came from Asia: Josephus says, that it was 
practised by the Jews: some of the emperors adopt- 
ed it; and the hair of Com modus is said to have be- 
come so fair and bright by its constant use, that, 
when the sun shone upon it, his head appeared as if 
on fire. But the powder used by the moderns was 
unknown to the ancients: their authors do not men- 
tion it; and the reverend fathers of the Church make 
no allusion to it amongst all the means which they 
reproach the women with having adopted to heighten 
their charms; neither do the old romances, which yet 
give such minute details respecting dress;* nor is it 
-seen in any of the antique portraits, although the 
painters of those days usually copied the dress and 
ornaments as actually worn. 

li the hair exacted such attention, it may be pre- 
sumed the face was not neglected; and, indeed, we 
read of almost as many cosmetics as fill the columns 
of a modern newspaper. To enumerate them all, 
would be as endless, as it probably would be but lit- 
tle instructive to the very able professors in the mys- 
terious and important arts of personal embellishment 
of which the present age can boast; but one precious 
receipt from the pen of the bard who sung u the Art 
of Love," cannot, it is presumed, be, even now, 
wholely uninteresting to the accomplished votaress 
of the toilet w r ho may deign to honor these pages 
with a perusal: — 

" Vetches, and beaten barley let them take, 
And with the whites of eggs a mixture make; 
Then dry -the precious paste with sun and wind. 
And into powder very gently grind. 

Q 



|yQ, DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

Get hart's-horn next, but let it be the first 

That creature sheds, and beat it well to dust; 

Six potfnds in all; then mix, and sift them well, 

And think the while how fond Narcissus fell: 

Six roots to you that pensive flow'r must yield, 

To mingle with the rest, well bruis'd, and cleanly peeFd, 

Two ounces next of gum, and thural seed, 

And let a double share of honey last succeed. — 

With this, whatever damsel paints her face, 

Will brighter than her glass see every grace. 

Ovid: Art of Beauty — Anonym. 

Pliny speaks of a wild vine, with very thick leaves 
of a pale green, the seeds of the grape of which were 
red, and being bruised with the leaves, were used to 
refresh the complexion. Fabula, says Martial, feared 
the rain on account "of the chalk upon her face, and 
Sabella, the sun, because of the ceruse with which 
she was painted. The same author mentions a depi- 
latory which was employed to eradicate obnoxious 
hairs: and Plautus alludes to the use of rouge. Ma- 
ny ladies used to wash themselves in asses milk; and 
the celebrated Poppsea, the wife of Nero, bathed 
daily in it. This lady, we are told, invented an 
unctuous paste which was in universal esteem as a 
softener of the skin: it was spread over the face as 
a mask, and was very generally and constantly worn 
in the house; thus creating a kind of domestic coun- 
tenance for the husband, while that underneath was 
carefully preserved for the more favored admirer, or 
the public. 

The Roman ladies were extremely careful of their 
teeth; they used small brushes, and tooth-picks: the 
latter sometimes of silver; but those most esteemed 
were made of the wood of the mastich tree. Of 
what, besides water, they employed to cleanse them, 
we only know, that there was a favourite lotion, 
which they received from Spain, the chief ingredient 
in which was a liquid that undoubtedly Would not 
recommend it to modern notice. False teeth are 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 y| 

mentioned by both Horace and Martial, as being 
common in their time. 

Art had not, indeed, then arrived at the perfec- 
tion* @f supplying the absolute deficiency of an eye; 
but means were not wanting to encrease their lustre, 
and to make those which were small, or sunk, ap- 
pear larger and more prominent than they really 
were. This was effected by burning the powder of 
antimony, the vapour of which being allowed to as- 
cend to the eyes, had the effect of distending the 
eye-lids; or the powder, and sometimes, indeed, com- 
mon soot, was gently spread with a bodkin under- 
neath the lid, and the tint which it imparted was 
supposed to give an expression of liquid softness to 
the eye. Pencilling the eye-brows was a constant 
practice; nor was there any ignorance of the effect 
produced by a skilfully disposed patch,^ or of any 
other of the numerous arcana by which the charms of 
the person are heightened and displayed. Ovid, 
whose authority on such a subject can no more be 
questioned than his tenderness towards the sex can 
be suspected, says, that— 

<( Women, with juice of herbs grey locks disguise, 

And art gives colour which with nature vies: 

The well -wove tours they wear their own are thought, 

But only are their own as what they've bought. 

They know the use of white to make them fair, 

And how with red lost colour- to repair; 

Imperfect eye-brows they by art can mend, 

And skin when wanting o'er a scar extend. 

Nor need the fair one be jisham'd, who tries, 

By art to add new lustre to her eves." 

Congreve: Art of Love, b. ii. 



* A skilfully disposed patch" It has been doubted whether the 
Roman ladies did actually employ the "artillery of patches." 
But not only are they repeatedly mentioned in Martial's Epi- 
grams, but the younger Plmy tells us, that even a grave lawyer 
had recourse to their aid, and that, according as he was to plead 
for plaintiff or defendant, he used to wear a white, or a blacfe 
patch, over the right or the left eye i Plin. Epist, 1. vi. ep. 2* 



I^g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

It has been already observed, that the tunic, as 
well as the toga, Was common to both sexes, with 
the exception of a slight difference in the shape of 
the former. In the early ages, women wore the»t\inic 
so high about the throat, and it descended so low, 
that the figure of the wearer was entirely concealed, 
and to expose it would have been considered a depar- 
ture from feminine reserve and delicacy. But it 
gradually became customary to display more and 
more of the neck, until the tunic was worn in such 
manner that the left sleeve only was fastened over 
the shoulder, while the right fell negligently down 
upon the arm; and some merely closed the front of 
the sleeves with clasps, instead of seams, so that the 
arms were barely covered, but not concealed. This 
robe was confined round the waist with a broad em- 
broidered girdle, and it was considered graceful to 
slightly raise the right side of it when walking. At 
first, one tunic only was worn; but the example of 
the men introduced the fashion of wearing three; the 
under one as a chemise, the next as a short frock, 
and the upper in the manner already described. The 
latter acquired, in the course of time, so many folds, 
and such various ornaments, that it at length en- 
tirely superseded the tQga,^ and became the chief fe- 
male habiliment under the new title of the stola. It 
then received a train, with a deep border of gold and 
purple tissue, and was closed in front from the girdle 
downwards ; the upper part was left open to display 
the second tunic, over which young persons wore 
ribands crossed upon the breast to support the bosom, 
These gradually assumed the form of the corset, and 
of all the apparel of a Roman lady it became the 
most brilliant: it was resplendent with gold, pearls, 
and precious stones; and even females of inferior 
rank, who could not cummand those ornaments, vet 



* " Toga." The female toga was afterwards worn only by 
women of profl ig-a? e manners. Those convicted of adultery were 
forced to appear in it as a mark of public dibgrace* 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^yg 

wore a stomacher of coarse embroidery.* Over the 
stola, there was thrown a mantle, attached merely to 
the shoulders with a clasp, and falling thence upon 
the ground with a sweeping train: it was generally- 
Worn with an inclination to the left shoulder, in or- 
der to give more liberty, and perhaps more grace to 
the right arm; it thus formed several folds, which, 
together with its vast length, gave it an appearance 
of great dignity. 

The clothes were made of various materials; of 
woollen-cloth, linen, and silk; but the most usual 
was a mixture of silk and wool. During nearly the 
whole period of the republic, both linen and pure* 
wove-silk were unknown. The rarity of the latter, 
even during the reigns of many of the emperors, 
was such, that Aurelian is said to have refused a 
mantle of silk to the Empress because of its ex- 
travagant price; and it appears, that raw silk was 
then, in the latter end of the third century, of the 
same value, weight for weight, as gold. The Ro- 
mans were indeed, for a long time, ignorant of the 
manner in which silk was produced; and the silk- 
worm was not known in Europe until the middle of 
the sixth century. What silk they had was pro- 
cured from China, through the medium of their 
commerce with Arabia, and the East Indies; and in 
the then imperfect state of mercantile intercourse, it 
was obtained with difficulty, and was, consequently, 
so exorbitantly dear, as to place it, in its pure state, 
beyond the reach of all but persons of the highest 
rank. Wherefore, a large portion of what was re- 
ceived in a manufactured state, was unravelled, ;>nd 
re-wove, with an intermixture of wool, into a stt ff 
of a very slight texture, and transparent appearance, 
which was usually worn by . ladies of the middle 



* " Storm: cher G f coarse embroidery." It is remarkable, that 
this part of the ancient female costume, and a very close imita- 
tion of the stola also, ar vet preserved in the dress of the pea- 
santry in the .vicinity of Rome. 

Q2 



i¥& DOMESTIC MANNERS ATs T l> 

class of society, and, on ordinary occasions, even By 
women of distinction; 

A modern commentator,^ whose opinion is enti- 
tled to great attention, hazards the conjecture, that 
the Roman ladies were also provided with muslin 
from the East Indies, and applies to it some lines of 
an ancient poet, quoted by Seneca, who indignantly 
exclaims — 

** A woven wind should married women wear> 
And naked in a linen cloud appear." 

But he do^s not take upon him to determine tha& 
It actually was muslin which thus excited the spleen 
of the moralist; and the term " woven wind, "{ was 
often, poeticaily 5 applied to any stuff of a thin tex- 
ture. 

White was the only colour originally worn; it was 
also considered, for a long time, as more elegant 
than any other except purple, by which the dignita- 
ries of the state were distinguished. But fashion 



* " A modern commentator" Gifford, notes to the translation 
of Juvenal, sat. ii. ver. 99. 

-j-" Woven ivind" This, and synonymous terms, are frequently 
applied in ancient authors to the silk and woollen stuffs alluded 
to in the text. Pliny says, they were so thin that the body shone 
through them. (Hist. JYat 1. vi. c. 20) Tibullus calls them vestes 
pellucidce^ and Petronius, venms textilis: It, however, is by no 
means improbable, that manufactured cotton, as well as silk, was 
imported into Rome from the East; and a passage in the Geor- 
gies of Virgil, which evidently alludes to the cotton-plant, tends 
to confirm Mr. Gifford's opinion, that it was obtained from the 
country of the Seres, from which the stuff, called Serica, whicfiL 
he supposes to have been muslin, was named:— 

?' Quid nemora JEthiopnm, molh canentia land, * 

Telleraque ut foliis depectant temda seres." 

u Of JEthiops' hoary trees and woolly wood, 
&et others tell: and how the Seres spin 
TJwir fleecy forests in a slender twine" 

Dry den, Georg. *$*, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS; ^ivg 

afterwards introduced a greater variety, and the la- 
dies being no longer bound by any rule except its 
capricious dictates, stem to have, induig.d their taste 
in all the tints of the rainbow; although the different 
shades of purple appear to have been always held in 
superior estimation. 

Notwithstanding this inconstancy in the colour of 
the robes, that of the shoes and buskins remained^ 
during a considt rabie period, uniformly white; it was 
not until the reign of Aurelian that women began to 
wear thrrn of red; for which that Emperor not only 
gave them a special permission, but at the samt time 
deprived the men of that privilege, which he reserved 
to the ladies and himself. His successors followed 
his example, and it has been continued even to the 
present day: for it was from the emperors of the 
w<.-st that the Popes received the custom, by which 
th-y are still distinguished, of wearing red shoes. 
Women also wore slippers and socks; but the latter 
w*-re merely ribands bound over the feet; the colour 
was usually red, and they appeared through the 
opening of the buskin, which was itself laced with a 
garter crossed several times upon the leg. The em- 
perors loaded their buskins with ornaments, one of 
which was the figure of an eagle in embroidery en- 
riched with pearls and diamonds, and there is reason 
to suppose, that this also was adopted by ladies. 

The taste for jewelry was likewise displayed in 
bracelets, necklaces, and every kind of ft male orna- 
ment. Indeed, the use of jewels was so general, that 
Piiny says, it wo; 1.1 have been considered derogatory 
to a female of rank to have appeared without them; 
and he estimates those worn in full dress by Lollia 
Paulina — the repudiated * wife of Caligula — and be- 
longing to her in her own right, as inherited from 
her familv, without including rither state-jewels or 
pr.esents*from the prince, at a sum equivalent to more 
than three hundred thousand pounds of our money.* 



* " Three hundred thousand pounds of our money" Alt'iougfe 
the jewels of Lollia Paulina have been estimated, by a verg 



£*/Q- DOMESTIC MANNERS, &c. ■ 

Notwithstanding this prodigality of expense, the 
Romans do not appear to have been acquainted with 
the art that gives value to our most precious gems 
they, indeed, possessed diamonds,^ • ut were ignor- 
ant of the means of rendering them brilliant: not- 
withstanding that they employed diamond-dust to 
polish various other stones. They placed an extra- 
ordinary v*lue on amber, which their distance from 
the coasts of the Baltic sea, where it is chiefly found, f 
and their slight intercourse with a country then in 
a state of barbarism, rendered extremely rare. But 
the pear^ was the most costly jewel, and besides its 
own intrinsic beauty, and great rarity, its value was 
enhanced by'the difficulty of imitating it; for, although 
they were adepts in the art of counterfeiting most 
precious stones, yet to that of making pearl beads, 
which is now carried to such perfection, thev had 
not attained. Of the excellence of their workman- 
ship, comparativelv with that of the moderns, we 
have but scanty means of forming an accurate opinion; 
but, from some specimens of ancient jewelrv pre- 
served in collections of antiquities, we should con- 
clude, that the Romans had acquired considerable 
proficiency in the various branches of the lapidary's 
art. 



learned author, at the exact sum of 322,91 61 13s. 4d yet the 
text of Pliny, on which the calculation is founded, is, by many, 
considered to admit of a construction which would reduce the 
valution to one tenth of that sum. See Arbuthnot on Ancient 
Coins. 

* " Diamonds." See Note No 8. Chap. xiii. 

f See JVLalte Brun — Picture of Poland. 

\« Pearir See Note No, 8. Chap, xiii; 



177 



CHAP. XVII. 



Laws to restrain Celibacy, — Papian Law. — Marriage,— 
The Contract, — The Wedding Ring. — The Dowry.— 
Different forms of Marriage. — Fortunate days.— The 
Bridal Dress, — Nuptial rites. — The Epithalamium. — 
The Bed-chamber. 

So attentive were the Romans to the important ob- 
ject of population, that, with a view to multiply the 
number of citizens, they not only rewarded those 
who married, but decreed penalties against men who 
remained in a state of celioacy; and sterility was 
not alone a sufficient ground for divorce, but they 
whose wives were in that situation were, at one pe- 
riod, enjoined to repudiate them, Fines were first 
levied on unmarried men about the year of Rome 
350; and when pecuniary forfeitures failed to ensure 
their obedience to these connubial edicts, their contu- 
macious neglect of the fair sex was punished by de- 
gradation from their tribe. 

Celibacy continued, notwithstanding, to gain 
ground in Rome; and to counteract its effects, we 
fi/acl that, in the year 518 from the foundation of the 
city, the censors had recourse to the extraordinary 
measure of obliging all the youeg unmarried men to 
pledge themselves by an oath to marry within a cer^ 
tain time, 



|yg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

Caesar enacted various laws in order to repair the 
loss to population occasioned by the civil wars: and 
Augustus, following his example, augmented the 
penalties on bachelors, while he bestowed rewards 
on those w r ho had a numerous offspring born in wed- 
lock. To, facilitate marriages, he permitted all male 
citizens, except senators, their sons and grandsons, 
to espouse the daughters of freedmen, without such 
alliance being considered a degradation, in which 
light it had been previously viewed. And, as many 
persons evaded the penalties imposed on celibacy, 
by marrying children under the nubile age, he de- 
creed i that no girl should be betrothed until she had 
completed her tenth year; and, that the marriage 
should be consummated within two years after- 
wards^ 

Augustus found considerable difficulty in enforcing 
these laws, which were opposed by the prevalent 
taste for libertinism, and the general license of the 
times; and it was only by dint of perseverance, and 
great firmness, that he succeeded. At the eel Ora- 
tion of some 'public games, at which he happened 
to be present, the knights loudly demanded their ab- 
rogation: but the emperor, instead of complying, 
sent for the children of Germanicus, who w*-re alrea- 
dy numerous, although that prince was then only 
twenty-four years old, and holding them up to their 
view, desired them to follow the example of. that 
illustrious personage. He afterwards commanded 
the whole order of knights to appear before him in 
two divisions; the one to consist of the married, the 
other of the unmarried; and finding the Inter by far 
the most numerous, he took occasion to praise those 
who in honourable wedlock raised up citizens for 
the state. He then vehemently reprehended the 
bachelors; and far from annulling, or even mitigat- 
ing, the penalties to which they were previously sub- 
ject, he added some still more rigorous, by a law 
well known in the Roman code of Jurisprudence, 
-Under the title of Papia Poppwa^ from the consuls 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. ^yg 

Papius and Poppseus, who were charged with its 
execution, and the somewhat laughable circumstance, 
that tfiese persons were themselves both unmarri- 
ed, • 

Tacitus^ says, that the object of the Papian law 
was both to punish celibacy, and to enrich the public 
treasury by the confiscation of collateral successions 
and legacies; of the benefit of which it deprived un- 
married men of the nubile age, unless they contract- 
ed a marriage within one hundred days from the de- 
cease of the testator. But it gave numerous advan- 
tages to fathers of families: they obtained the pre- 
ference in all public employments; if they had not 
attained the age required by law, so many years of 
that period were dispensed with as they had children; 
distinguished places were assigned to them in the 
public theatres; they had precedence of their un- 
married colleagues; and they were exonerated from 
the discharge of several burdensome public office's^ 
It was an immunity held in much respect, and was 
sometimes granted by the emperors, as a special fa- 
vor, to persons who were without children; but the 
Emperor Constantine, considering it as, in some re- 
spects, contrary to the gospel, mo lifted it in several 
points, and abolished the penalties imposed on celi- 
bacy. 

The nearest degree of consanguinity in which mar- 
riage was legal, subsequent to the reign of Nerva, 
was that of first cousin: it had been previously per- 
mitted, and was frequently contracted, between un- 
cle and niece. By a law of the twelve tables, it was 
prohibited between Patricians and Plebians; but 
that being contrary to the. spirit of republican insti- 
tutions, it was repealed within five years of its enact- 
ment, Marriage with foreigners, of whatever con- 
dition, was, however, strictly forbidden. Not only 
did the national pride of the Romans cause them to 



*Tacit. Ann. 1. iii. c. 25. 



180 



DOMESTIC MAKNEUS AND 



look with contempt on the inhabitants of other coim* 
tries, but the policy of the government tended to 
preserve the population oi the Roman territory as 
distinct as possible from that of the surroufruing 
nations; and it was besides feared, that such allian- 
ces might have consequences prejudicial to the state. 
Roman citizens were, therefore, required to inter- 
marry amon^ each other, or with the natives of those 
places which had acquired the burgess-right at 
Rome, or that of the ^Jas Connubii" — the privi- 
lege of contracting marriage with the Romans. A 
man who espoused any other stranger, was looked 
upon as degraded; and his children were not only 
considered illegitimate, but, as a mark of btill fur- 
ther debasement, they were called Ibridce, — the 
name applied to animals of a mongrel species. Their 
condition was, in fact, but little superior to that of 
slaves, until Caracalla granted the right of naturali- 
zation to all the countries, indiscriminately, which 
composed the Roman empire; when this stain was, 
in consequence obliterated. 

A marriage, even within the permitted degrees of 
propinquity, was not valid, unless the parties had 
attained the legal age, and were provided with the 
consent of parents. Boys were considered nubile at 
fourteen; girls, at twelve. Sons, who had been 
emancipated by their father, were not subjected to 
the restraint of obtaining permission; but daughters, 
although affranchised, were not released from that 
controul. In order to prevent a too great disparity 
of years, women under fifty were not allowed to 
marry sexagenarians, nor men under sixty with wo- 
men of fifty. 

The consent of parents being obtained, the parties 
were affi meed some time before the celebration of 
the actual marriage. This was accompanied with 
many ceremonies^ at which the priests and augurs 
assisted: the marriage contract was drawn up in the 
presence of witnesses, and confirmed by the betroth- 
ed pair breaking a straw between them; the bride- 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS. £g£ 

groom then presented his bride with the wedding 
ring; presents were made to the young couple by 
their immediate friends who were present on the oc- 
casion; and the father, or nearest relatives of the 
bride — at whose house the ceremony usually took 
place — gave a grand entertainment. 

The wedding ring was worn on the third finger of 
the left hand, from an idea that a nerve communi- 
cated thence directly with the heaft. -It consisted, 
for a long time, in nothing more than a plain hoop 
of iron; but it was afterwards rn^de of gold, or 
bronze, with various amatory mottoes and devices, 
and frequently with a small ornament in the form of 
a key, to denote that, with it, the husband deliver- 
ed up the care of his house. 

The bride's portion was paid at three instalments^ 
which were fixed by law, and was either delivered 
in money or secured on landed property: and the 
husband was not allowed to alienate it. Among per- 
sons of rank, a part of the dowry was reserved for 
the separate use of the wife, and the lady frequently 
retained some slaves, as personal servants, who 
were considered as her private property, and under 
h|r sole control. The 'fortunes given with young 
ladies of the first distinction, in the early ages of 
the republic, were extremely 1 moderate. It is re- 
corded that Cn. Scipio, when in command of the 
army in Spain, applied for leave of absence, that he 
might provide for the marriage of his daughter; but 
the senate, rather than be deprived of his services, 
took that care upon itself, and advanced the portion 
out of the public treasury: its amount was not quite 
equal to thirty six pounds of our money! and yet,/ 
considering the motive for bestowing it^ we may 
presume that it was not measured with a niggard 
hand. But in proportion as they were then small, 
they became enormous in the sequalj and Seneca^ 



* Seneca, de Comokit. ad Helvet. c. 12. 

R 



isa 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



remarks, that the sum with which the senate portion- 
ed the child of Scipio, would not, in his time, have 
been thought sufficient to provide the daughter of a 
freedman with a mirror. 

A marriage was never solemnized without con- 
sulting the auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods; 
particularly to Juno; and the animals immolated on 
the occasion, were deprived of their gall, in allusion 
to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in 
the proposed union. 

The ceremonjf was performed in three different 
modes: distinguished by the titles of "Confarrea- 
tion^ ^Coemption," and "Usage;'* each of which, 
though distinct in point of form, was equally bind- 
ing on the contracting parties. m 

Confarreation was the most ancient. A priest, in 
the presence of ten witnesses, made an offering to 
the gods of a cake composed of salt, water^.and a 
particular kind of wheaten flour — called Far — from 
which the name of the ceremony was derived: of 
this the bride and bridegroom partook, to denote 
the ut\ion that was to subsist between them, and the 
sacrifice of a sheep ratified the interchange of their 
vows. This mode of celebration conferred on the 
wife all the rights of adoption as a daughter: it gave 
her the privilege of assisting at the sacred rites pe- 
culiar to the household gods of her husband: it en- 
dowed her with his entire property, if he died in- 
testate without issue; and if he left children, she 
shared equally with them. 

Coemption was an imaginary purchase which the 
husband and wife made of each other, by the ex- 
change of some pieces of money. This form sub- 
sisted longer than that of confarreation, which, ac- 
cording to Tacitus, was no longer practised in the 
reign of Tiberius: it seems to have conferred the 
same rights on the woman; and some authors say, 
that it was accompanied with similar ceremonies. 

Usage was, in fact, nothing more than when a wo- 
man, with the consent of her parents, or guardians, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. |gg 

had cohabited an entire year with a man, Avith the 
intention of becoming his wife. She was then con- 
sidered as being legally married to him; and it even 
appears, that she thereby acquired the same rights 
as either of the former ceremonies would have con- 
ferred. This form, besides, gave to the tydy the 
power of annulling the marriage, if, during her 
twelve- month's noviciate, she repented of her en- 
gagement; an advantage in which it is not quite clear 
that the intended- husband participated. 

It was not every day, nor even every month, that 
was deemed equally auspicious to the celebration of 
marriage: they avoided the kalends, nones, and ides, 
and every day marked black in the kalendar; the 
month of February, because in it was commemorat- 
ed the anniversary of all funeral obsequies: that of 
Marchv during the Salian feast;^ and, above all, 
■May:f June, on the contrary, was, of all months, 
considered the most propitious. But widows wheth- 
er more careful to improve the passing time, or less 
attentive to omens, of which the former connubial 
engagements of many of them had no doubt proved 
the fallacy, considered every day as equally fortunat^ 
and. were married at all seasons. 

On the morning of the wedding day, the bride ap- 
peared in a simple robe of pure white, bound with 
a %one of wool, which her husband alone was to 
loosen; her hair was braided with woollen threads in 
imitation of the vestals, and divided into six tresses, 
fastened at the extremities in a knot in the form of a 



♦The .'Salian feast 9 was in commemoration of the time wheia 
the shield of Mars was supposed to have fallen from the hea- 
vens. 

jfMay, 9 This superstition is said to have prevailed at a late 
period among the peasantry of lower Languedoc, who imagined 
that a marriage concluded in. the month of May, would lead to 
tJhe premature death of one of the parties. 

•Astru.c, Men\^ pour V Hist. Nat. du Languedoc. 



184 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



javelin head, and was arranged with the iron of a 
pike; she wore a large flame coloured veil, and a 
chaplet of vervain, gathered by herself; her shoes 
were yellow, and had unusually high heels, to give 
her an appearance of greater dignity. Thus attired, 
she awpted the arrival of the bridegroom, who went, 
attended by a numerous party of friends, to carry 
her off, with an appearance of violence, from the 
arms^of her mother, or other nearest female relative; 
either in commemoration of the rape of the Sabines, 
or to denote the reluctance she was supposed to feel 
on quitting the paternal dwelling for that of a hus- 
band* The nuptial ceremony was then performed. 
In the evening, she* was conducted to her future 
home, followed by her relations, friends, and ser- 
vants, carrying presents of various domestic utensils! 
and was attended by three boys, whose parents were 
still alive, on two rjf whom she leaned, while the 
third walked before with a torch of pine wood, 
which the friends of both parties carried off when 
they had arrived at the house, lest it should be em- 
ployed in any witchery that might endanger trfe life 
M either. One young slave carried a covered vase 
containing her toilet, a child's coral, and play-things, 
and another bore a distaff and spindle furnished with 
wool; both symbolical of her domestic pleasures and 
her cares. 

The door of the bridegroom's house was hung 
with garlands of flowers in honor of the festive oc- 
casion; and with wreaths of wool smeared with the 
fat of a hog, or a wolf, to protect it from witchcraft, 
the effect of which on the happiness of the newly 
married pair was as anxiously guarded against as it 
was seriously dreaded. 

When the bride arrived, instead of being received 
with all the rapture that might be presumed, she was 
ceremoniously asked who she was, and was expect- 
ed to answer, tfc I am Caia,''^ to assure her husband 



*' Caia.' — This lady — also known by the name of Tanaquil — was 
'the wife of one of the ancient kings; and was so remarkable for 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



185 



that she would prove as notable as that celebrated 
house-wife; or she replied, addressing the bride- 
groom, "Where thou art Caius, there shall 1 be 
Caia," meaning, that where he was master there 
would she be mistress: a promise which she, no 
doubt, religiously performed. She was then carri- 
ed over the threshold, both that she might appear 
to enter the house involuntarily^ and as a presage that 
she would not quit it but in the same manner: the 
threshold was, besides, consecrated to thje goddess 
of chastity, and it would have been esteemed a bad 
omen, were the bride to trample on it. She was 
sprinkled with water, to denote her virgin purity; 
and was made to touch both water and fire, along 
with her husband, to intimate that their union was 
to last through every extremity* The keys of the 
house were then delivered to her; and she was seat- 
ed on a sheep skin, to remind her, once more, by 
the emblem of the fleece, of her domestic duties.^ 

The bridegroom then gave a grand supper to all 
the company: he was himself placed on the upper 
couch-, and the bride reposed upon his breast. This 
entertainment was distinguished beyond all others 
by its elegance and profusion; and the sumptuary 
laws, which fix^d bounds to the expense of other 
repasts, were relaxed in favor of those given on the 
occasion of a wedding. The fete was accompanied 



attention to the domestic duties, that her distaff was preserved 
for ages as a sacred relic, and her example was handed down t6 
posterity as a pattern of house-wifery. 

*' Domestic duties?— \. popular modern novel has recorded an 
ancient epitaph on a Roman matron, which shows in what esti- 
mation these were held: — 

'Domum mansit, Ian am fecit. 9 

. The Abbot? vol. i. ch. 1, 

Thus not unaptly translated: — 

'She keepit close the hous, and birlet at the wheel/ 

Gatvaiu Hamiltnu^- 



£gg DOMESTIC MANNERS Sec. 

with music and dancing, and the guests sang an 
epithalamium in praise of the new- married couple. 
This commenced and finished with acclamations, in 
which the name of Thalassius was olten repeated, 
from an old tradition, that among the S ibine women, 
carried off by the Romans, there was one of extraor- 
dinary beauty, whom the public voice decreed to 
Thalassius, a young *m an also remarkable for his 
personal graces, and for his courage;, and their mar- 
riage proving singularly happy, his name was after- 
wards introduced into the nuptial songs, coupled with 
wishes that a similar destiny might attend those in 
whose honor they were chanted* 

The bride was attended to her apartment by ma- 
trons who had been but once married. The room 
Was ornamented with thestatues of the divinities sup- 
posed to preside over matrimony; and the bed was 
strewed with flowers and placed opposite tjie door, but 
was removed to another situation if it had already serv- 
ed on a similar occasion, lest the bride should be ex- 
posed to the misfortunes that might have befallen its 
former occupant. Before they retired, the bride- 
groom scattered nuts among the boys, and the bride 
consecrated her dolls to Venus, to signify that they 
relinquished childish amusements; and the bridal 
rites were closed by a finale to the epithalamium* 
sung by the young females of the party, at the door 
©f the bed-chamber. 



• 18f 



CHAP. XVIIL 



Jljici'ent Law of Divorce. — Instances of its Abuse.— Its 
Consequences. — Laws against AluUery — Widows — 
Concubinage.— Laws of Divorce after the Introduction 
of Christianity. . • 

Marriage, among the Romans, was not indis- 
soluble.* By a law of Romulus, a husband might 
repudiate his wife for several reasons besides that 
of h tviog violated her conjugal faith: in which cases, 
he assembled a family council, consisting of the near- 
est relatives of the lady, to judge of her transgres- 
sion; and if they found her culpable, a separation was 
obtained on his making oath before the censors that 
he demanded it for a legitimate cause. 

Bv an abuse of this power,' men were even per* 
mirted to repudiate their wives without assigning 
any real cause; but were then bound, not only to re- 
fund the fortune they had received with them, but 
to endow them, also r with a portion of their own. 
'However equitable this might be so far as it regard- 
ed property, it was unjust inasmuch as it was tiot 
reciprocal; but the laws of the twelve tables subse- 
quently gave* a paritv of rights to the wife, and the 
St x never afterwards lost an opportunity of asserting 
them.^ 



*On one occasion, when an unfounded report was circulated 
that a decree was about to be passed permitting: men 1o hare 
two wives, a deputation of matrons instantly waited on the Sen* 
%te to claim the privilege of marrying* two husbands. 



£gg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

The divorce was pronounced in the presence of 
seven witnesses, and inscribed on the registers of the 
Censors; the marriage contract was then destroyed, 
and the husband received back the keys which he 
had delivered to the wife on the wedding day. On 
his part, he restored her dowry, unless she had been 
guilty of infidelity, in which case he retained the 
whole; but if criminal in a minor degree, only a 
part; and if they had children, thev settled a portion 
of their joint fortune on them, by a testamentary 
deed which was irrevocable. 

There were some additional forms of separation, 
each peculiar to the different rites by which the 
marriage had been contracted, but they all equally 
ended in an unceremonious order to the lady to 
"take up her property and depart. 5 * . ■ . 

It has been remarked, to the honor of the Ro- 
mans, that more than four centuries elapsed without 
any suit among them for divorce, or complaint of 
adultery. That crime was first publicly noticed in 
tfcie year 457 of the commonwealth, when some la- 
dies were suspected of it, and condemned in fines 
which were employed to build a temple to Venus. 
It was not until the vear 521, of the same sera, that 
the first divorce took place; when one Carvilius Ru- 
ga repudiated his wife on account of sterility. He 
was said to be mach attached to her; and he excus- 
ed his conduct on the plea, that he was only induced 
to take that step out of respect to the oath which he, 
in common with his fellow citizens, had takeiu — to- 
marry for the purpose of having children: but, how- 
ever specious the pretext, it did not . fail to draw 
down upon him the public indignation of all Rcme 0# 

His example, however, was soon followed,, end 
divorces afterwards took place upon the most frivo- 
lous pretences. One repudiated his wife for raving 
appeared in public -without a veil: another, because 
she was seen to whisper to a freedman; a third, in 
consequence of the lady having appeared at the the~ 
Wcz without his permission; and a fourth, assigned 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



180 



no other reason than 4t no one knew where the buskin 
pinched but the wearer." Even Cato did not scru- 
ple to yield his wife Marcia, by whom he had sever- 
al children, to his friend Hortensius; and he dying 
soon after, and constituting -Marcia his sole heiress, 
to the exclusion of his son, Cato remarried her to 
possess himstlf of the fortune. Cicero divorced 
Terentia, on account, as he alleged, of her imperi- 
ous temper £hd extravagance; although he had co- 
habited thirty years with her, and they had two chil- 
dren to whom he was most tenderly attached. He 
then married a young heiress to whom he had been 
guardian, and repudiated her, also, within a short 
period, on. the pretext of some family dispute. In 
fine, some men were base enough to marry women 
of light character, with a view to take advantage of 
their misconduct, and thus to possess themselves of 
their dowry, which, as we have already seen, was 
forfeited to the husband in cases of infidelity. Nor 
were the women slow jn taking advantage of the pri- 
vilege they also acquired of releasing themselves at^ 
pleasure from their bonds; they frequently deserted 
their husbands without cause, and contracted new 
engagements which they broke with equal levity; 
insomuch, that a celebrated moralist remarked of 
them, "that they no longer counted the years by the 
names of the consuls, but by those of their different 
husbands;"^ The slightest disgust or even caprice, 
served as an excuse to either party to resort to this 
convenient expedient, which became so general, 
that St. Jerome mentions a Roman who had had 
iwtmty wives; and a lady twenty two husbands! 

But, either the pious .indignation of the saint has 
exaggerated the fact, or the prevailing taste for va- 
riety had increased with- its indulgence; for Juvenal^ 



**„# celebrated moralist" — "Seneca, De Benefic. 1. iii. c. 16.. 
It was customary to designate am particular year by the names; 
af the consuls who were then in office. ■ 



£90 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 



who wrote at a much earlier period, 5 * and who cer- 
tainly cannot be accused of extenuating the frailties 
• of the fair-sex, limits the inconstancy of the ladies 
of his time to a much smaller number: — 

'Anon she sickens of her first domains, 
And seeks for new; husband on husband t§Jces, 
Till of her bridal veil one rent, she makes. 
Again she tires, -again for change she burns^ 
And to the bed she lately left returns, 
While the fresh garlands, and unfaded boughs, 
Yet deck the portal of her wondering spouse. 
Thus swells the list; eight husbands in jive years: 
A rare inscription for their sepulchres!' 

4 .Giford, sat. vi. 

This facility of . divorce had the most baleful effect 
on society: instead of increasing the reciprocal atten- 
tions and complaisance of married persons, from a 
dread of its being resorted to, it increased their, dis- 
sentions, -by" removing-, the restraint, which the ne- 
cessity of passing their lives together might other- 
wise have imposed upon them; it destroyed that 
mutual confidence which forms the basis of happiness 
in the married state; and opened a wide field for dis- 
cord, and irregularity of conduct. The Emperor 
Augustus made some efforts to check it, by impos- 
ing certain penalties upon divorces without legitimate 
cause. He also promulgated an edict against adul- 
tery. We are ignorant of its precise tenor; hut it 
would appear, that, besides the punishment of whip- 
ping, banishment, and, in some cases of- mutilation, to 

^Juvenal, who wrote at a much earlier period. 3 — St. Jerome 
wrote in the- latter end of the fourth, and the beginning of the 
fifth centuries: Juvenal towards the close of the first, and in 
the early part of the second. The latter was cotemporary with 
Seneca, Tacitus, Pliny the Elder and Younger, Suetonius, Ptu* 
$arch, Persius, and JVLaitial; and Was preceded— by about a 

century— by the historian kivy* and by Ovid, Virgil* and Ho- 
race, 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 g £ 

which it exposed the parties, it added to the laws 
already- in force— which allowed the husband to put 
the wife and her paramour to death if surprised in 
the fact— -permission to the father, also, of the wo- 
man, to kill her seducer. But however severe its 
enactments, and whatever the attention of Augustus 
to enforce them, they wanted the powerful aid of ex- 
ample; and his own irregularities were too notorious 
not to weaken the effect of a law which he was him- 
self the first to infringe.^ 

Public opinon, however, which generally, decides 
justly on points of morality, was unfavorable to di- 
vorces. Even second marriages, by widows, were 
not held in much respect: wherefore they were usu- 
ally solemnized with but little parade, and publicity 
was as much shunned, on those occasions, as it was 
courted on the celebration of the espousals of a 
maiden.. Widowhood, on th«- contrary, was in such 
honor, that it commanded precedence in certain 
solemn ceremonies; the crown of chastity was de- 
creed to it; and the title of Univira was engraved, 
as an eulogium, on the tombs of those matrons who 
remained faithful to their first vows. But we may 
infer from the honors paid to those widows who thus 
cherished the memory of their early loves, that their 
number was not large: the common actions of life, 
however meritorious they mav be, are seldom dis- 
tinguished by extraordinary marks of consideration, 



**A la?v -which he pas himself the first to infringe* Augustus 
repudiated his wife, ScHbonia^ on the very day on which she 
was delivered of the afterwards celebrated and dissolute Julia. 
His object in this divorce, was, to marry Livia, then not only 
the wife of Tiberius Nero, but also, six months advanced in 
pregnancy. The lady's marriage was an impediment easily re- 
moved; but her situation might have opposed some legal difficul- 
ty, had not the pliant casuistry of the college of Pontiffs se- 
conded the emperor's impatience. She became empress; but 
her child was duly restored to her former husband. 



Igg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

and it is only when they are rare that they attract 
observation. They were prohibited from contracting 
another marriage during the period of their mourn- 
ing; but if they transgressed in this particular, the 
fault was to be expiated by the sacrifice of an in-calf 
cow.' 

Widowers were not so restricted: they re-married 
when they pleased: but many, without any libertine 
intention, and solely out of consideration for their 
children, and to avoid giving them a step-mother and 
co-heiress, contracted a kind of half-marriage, whiclf 
was recegnised by the Roman law, under the title of 
concubinage. The offspring of such a connexion 
were not, indeed, considered legitimate, with respect 
to the succession to property; but neither were they 
reputed spurious; nor was their mother looked upon 
as infamous; and they were competent to fill public 
employments, from which illegitimate children were 
excluded. But this indulgence was never extended 
so far as to authorize polygamy; and even a plurality 
of concubiaesj though connived at by the lice nee of 
the times, was strictly prohibited by law. Plutarch, 
indeed, observes, that Mark Anthony was the first 
Roman who emancipated himself from this restraint, 
and married two wives;* but he cites no other in- 
stance in support of the inference which might be 
drawn from the* manner in which he expresses him- 
self — that others had followed the example; and, as 
the allusion is to his marriage with Cleopatra, which 
was not solemnized at Rome, it cannot be consider- 
ed as a case strictly in point. Besides, as no ceremo- 
ny could legalize such marriages, they could not 
confer any rights on the offspring; and, if they ever 
took place, they were void in law, and did not affect 
its regulations: but we do not find that they subjected 
the parties to any punishment. 

It is remarkable, that notwithstanding Christianity 
became the religion of the state in the year of our 



*Plut. in Vit. Ant. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



193 



Lord 311, yet the law which sanctioned divorce ^t 
the pleasure of either party continued in force until 
the year 450, when some restrictions were imposed 
on the extreme facility with which it had till then 
been allowed, and the legitimate causes of separation 
were defined. However, the reasons for. which it was 
still permitted, were so numerous, were afterwards 
so frequently modified, and so variously construed, 
and gave rise to so much litigation, that, in the year 
570, the Emperor Justin II. restored the law of di- 
vorce by mutual consent; and marriage remained 
thus dissoluble until the fall of the Roman Empire. 



CHAP. XIX. 



Fower of Parents over their Children. — Exposition.—* 
Emancipation. — Gradual restriction of Parental. Au- 
thority — Clans.-f-Names. — Adoption of Children.— 
Manner and progress of Education. 

In all uncivilized ages, the most unlimited power 
appears to have been exercised by. t parents over their 
children. The barbarous custom of exposing them 
was common among the ancients, and was establish- 
ed by law, at Sparta, by Lycurgus. There, when a 
child was born, it was visited by the elders of each 
tribe, and if, upon examination, it was found well 
formed and vigorous, they ordered that it should be 
reared; but, if it appeared weak or deformed, it was 

S 



49* DOMESTIC MANNERS AN© 

either immediately destroyed, or exposed on the 
highway to the casual charity of the passing stran- 
ger. Such was also the practice of the ancient Ro- 
mans. But Romulus, so far from rendering it im- 
perative on parents to expose their children, in any 
case, restricted their right to do su until the infant 
had attained the age of three years; in the double hope, 
that both the child, and their affection for it, might, in 
that -time, -acquire strength sufficient to avert the 
fate which otherwise awaited it. This humane law, 
although confirmed by those of the twelve tables, 
was, however, continually evaded; and, although, 
absolute child-murder was not, perhaps, often com- 
mitted, yet the exposition of infants was customary 
at Rome, not only during the early period of its 
history, but for many succeeding ages. 

But, that this unnatural practice was rather prompt- 
ed by the pressure of indigence than by any worse 
motive, may be presumed from the facts, that the 
children were usually exposed in those places where 
they would be most likely to attract observation and 
to excite compassion, and that care #vas generally 
taken to affix some mark to them by which they 
might be afterwards recognised. 

In all other respects, the authority with which the 
Roman laws invested parents was unbounded. Fath- ' 
ers were not alone empowered to exact the services 
of their children in what manner they pleased, and 
to punish their disobedience by coporal chastisements, 
but also to imprison them, to sell them, and even, in 
cases of gross misconduct, to put them to death. 
They were, in fact, their masters and their judges, 
and could dispose at pleasure of their persons, and 
property. Nor was their dominion over them con- 
fined to the age of childhood, but extended to every 
period of their lives; except, indeed, that the earn- 
ings of a son in the army, or at the bar, were beyond 
their control, and that daughters were emancipated 
from it by marriage. The power of a father over 
fiis son was, in fact, still more absolute than that of 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 4 qk 

a master over his slave; for the latter could be only 
once sold, and if afterwards liberated, he was then 
for ever free. But, paradoxical as it may appear, 
a son might be sold three times; for, if freed by the 
person to whom he was first transferred, he reverted 
to his father, and it was not until he had been thus 
thrice sold and emancipated, that he obtained his 
final liberty. His children also, partaking of his con- 
dition, were equally subjected to the authority of 
their grandfather; and thus the power of the father 
himself yielded to the superior dominion of his own 
parent. In compliance with this extraordinary or- 
dinance, when a father chose to emancipate his son, 
he made a formal sale of him three different times, 
and repurchased him as often; which being done in 
the presence of a magistrate and five witnesses, the 
young man was thenceforward his own master: but 
the profits, or interest, of half his property belonged 
to the father, who was also his heir if he died intes- 
tate, and the legal guardian of his children after his 
decease. 

There is, however, reason to suppose, that some 
restraints were imposed on the exercise of this arbi- 
trary power, even in the time of the republic; there 
certainly were by the emperors; and, indeed, the 
existence of such absolute authority, in the hands 
of individuals, seems to be incompatible with the 
spirit of monarchical government. At a very early 
period, the right of selling male children was restrict- 
ed to the unmarried sons, lest married free-women 
should be reduced to slavery through the necessities, 
the caprice, or the inhumanity, of their fathers-in- 
law. Trajafl emancipated a son who had been ill- 
treated by his father; and Hadrian banished a father 
who had killed his son on the bare suspicion of his 
having committed adultery. From that time, the 
dominion of fathers over their children was d iily 
diminished. They gradually lost the power of life 
and death, and then that of selling them. The latter, it 
is true, was permitted so late as the reign of the first 



496 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

Constantine; but it was only allowed in cases of press- 
ing necessity, and was confined to children newly 
born. The continuance of it, even under that restric- 
tion, appears to have been admitted more with a 
view to guard infants from destruction by necessitous 
parents, that as an acknowledgement of the right, 
and the same law obliged the purchaser to restore 
the child to liberty, at any future period, on repay- 
ment of the sum for which it had been sold. But, 
notwithstanding these safeguards, the permission was 
abused, and was, in consequence, finally abolished 
in the same reign: Constantine, to avoid all future 
pretext for it, ordaining at the same time, that in- 
digent parents should be supported at the public ex- 
pense* The unnatural custom of exposing children, 
was also prohibited under severe penalties; but the 
precise period when it actually ceased to be practised 
does not appear: that it was not abolished without 
difficulty may be inferred from the same prohibition 
having been renewed, with additional severities, by 
several succeeding emperors. 

History contains many revolting instances of the 
abuse of the powers with which fathers were invested; 
and it was doubtless owing to their having been ex- 
ercised with undue severity, that they were annulled. 
But it must also be admitted, that the dependance in 
'Which children were held, served to nourish that 
filial piety of which Rome furnished so many strik- 
ing examples; that it was a strong inducement to 
parents to attend to the education of their offspring, 
and to watch over their conduct in more mature life; 
and, that it tended to the maintenance of order in 
families, and of subordination in the state. That 
fnothers were not allowed to participate in the fathers' 
prerogative, was the consequence of their own de- 
pendance on their husbands;, and also, we muft sup- 
pose, of that softness of disposition which would 
have rendered the exercise- of such stern authority 
impossible to their gentler nature. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. ^gy 

Boys were named on the ninth, and girls on the 
eighth, day after their birth: but they then only re- 
ceived the family patronymic: the pre-name, or, as 
we should term it, the babtismal, or christian name, 
was not bestowed on the former, until they were in- 
vested with the toga, nor on the latter, until they 
were about to be married; and indeed, at a more 
recent period, females did not receive any pre name. 
When there were two daughters in a familv, they 
were merely distinguished as the elder and the young- 
er; but if more,* they were named, according to the 
order of their birth, — Secundilla, Termlla^ §>uartilla 
. — the numbers being always, in such case, used in 
the diminutive, for the greater tenderness of expres- 
sion; and sometimes the name also^ as Tulliola for 
Tultia. When married, they retained the name of 
their family, and did not adept that of their husband. 

Those great families among the Romans who traced 
their origin to one common ancestor, were considered 
as belonging to the same Gens* or Clan, but they 
did not, on that account^ bear the same name alone 
as the parent stock from which they were descended. 
The acknowledged kindred of a Gens were denomi- 
nated Gentiles, as a recognition of the alliance; and 
as it denoted an honorable descent, and the pride of 
ancestry prevailed in a very high degree, it was a dis- 
tinction held in much respect. Many of the most an- 
cient and illustrius family-nam^s were derived from 
the rustic occupations of their ancestors: thus, accor- 
ding to Varro, Pliny, Plutarch, and others, tht- nohle 
families Asinha, Porcia y and Vitellia, were so called 
from their progenitors having been celebrated breed- 
ers of the animals to which th'ir names have an 
affi-iitv; as those of Fabius, Lentulus Pho s and Ctc- 
era, were, no doubt, equally remarkable for the suc- 
cessful cultivation of leguminous plants. 

They had two, or threes, and som times, even 
four, names: the pre name, — name — surname. — nrl 
3JX additional title, which they termed the agnomen* 

si 



i§8 fiOMESTIC MANNERS ANT* 

The pre- name, which, as we have already observed^ 
corresponded with our christian-name, was seldom 
written at full length: the initial letter alone being 
nsed, or, at most, the first syllable, if it consisted 
of more than one. The pre- names of females were 
distinguished from those of men by the initials being 
Inverted; by which expedient the confusion was ob- 
viated that must otherwise have arisen from the sim- 
ilarity of the male and female appellatives, whicb 
Seldom differed except in the termination. 

The name, was that of the original family, or 
gens: and the surname,. — which, in its origin, was 
a title, or honorable distinction, and sometimes a 
xnere nick name, — denoted the differtnc branches of 
the same house. 

The agnomen was personal to the individual who 
bore it, without reference to his family^ and was 
usually conferred as a reward for some memorable 
action: thus the two Scipios were, in consequence 
of their military services, called, the one Africanus, 
and the other Asiaticus. This distinction was, how- 
ever, afterwards much abused; for, notwithstanding 
.that it could only be granted by the senate, and was 
so highly valued, that even the emperors were am- 
bitious of acquiring it, yet was it frequently bestowed 
without any regard to merit. 

The Romans also inserted their public employments 
and dignities, and frequently, even their tribe, among 
their names. The title of the latter was feminine, 
and was placed between the name and the sur-name; 
but, lest it should be mistaken for a surname, of 
the name of a female, they distinguished it, in wri- 
ting, by a different size, or form, of the character. 
They, sometimes, had two sur names; or rather, the 
name of one family, and the hereditary sur-name of 
another: this occurred in cases of adoption; and 
when strangers became citizens of Rome, they usually 
took the pre-name and name of him who had pro- 
cured them that privilege. Slaves also, when liber- 
ated^ added the name and pre-name of their master 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. j gg 

to their own sur-name: thus, tie poet Andronicus, 
the freed-man of Marcus Livius Salinator, was cal- 
led M Livius Andronicus. 

The adoption ol children was very general among 
those who were themselves childless; and, as they 
became the legal heirs of their adoptive fathers so, 
these acquired over them ail the rights of paternity. 
The adopted person took the name of the family in"* 
to which he was received, in addition to his own; 
thus preserving some trace of his real origin, while 
he became identified with his new connexions. 

There were three distinct modes of adoption: 
simple affiliation, that called arrogation, and testa- 
mentary adoption; each of which was accompanied 
"with certain forms to render it valid. 

The first was resorted to on the adoption of a 
minor, and was effected by a factious sale from the 
real to the adopted, parent, in the same manner as 
in cases of emancipation. 

Arrogation regarded those who, being their own 
masters, voluntarily submitted themselves to the au- 
thority of him who adopted them. For this the 
consent of the people was requisite, and it was de- 
minded by the public notification. 

B sides these for ns, three other conditions .were 
essential to give eff ct to either of those acts: — that 
the adoptive father should be at least eighteen vears 
older than the son, and that he should both be with- 
out children of his own, and without reasonable hope 
of having anv; that neither honor, -religion, the 
domestic worship or peculiar sacrifices of the two 
families, should receive any attaint by it; that it 
Was without fraud, or collusion; and, that it had no 
other object than the apparent one of a bona fide 
adoption. The considerati on of these conditions be- 
longed to the college of Pontiffs; and if thev approv- 
ed the demand: it was at once admitted in the case 
of simple affiliation, and referred to the general as- 
sembly of trje people in that of arrogati-n: but the 
emperors took this right into their own hands, and 



goo 



DOMESTIC MANNERS AN1> 



extended it so far as to give permission of adoption 
to women who were childless. 

Testamentary adoption was nothing more than the 
bequest of a man's inheritance and name; hut even 
this required to be confirmed, by the P;setor In the 
testator's life-time, or by the people after his death. 

Various reasons contributed to render adoption 
more frequent among the Romans than among any 
other people; •one, was the desire, and even the sa- 
cred obligation, of perpetuating the private worship 
and distinctive sacrifices belonging to their families^ 
another, the privileges enjoyed by fathers, which at- 
tached rquilly to those having adopted, or legiti- 
mate, children; and lastly, among the patricians, was 
thr eligibility to the important office of tribune o£ 
the people, from which they were excluded unless 
they had previouslv passed, by adoption, rnto the 
plebeian order. The two latter motives gave occa- 
sion for many collusive adoptions, for interested pur- 
poses. We may readily conceive, that it could only 
have been a mere matter of form when a patrician 
was adopted by a plebeian: but it was also resorted 
to at the approach of the elections for public offices, 
to qualify those who, being without children, could 
not otherwise have entered into competition with 
fathers of families; and once their object was thus 
attained, they emancipated those whom they had 
adopted. This abuse, however, received a check 
in the reign of Nero, in consequence of a remon- 
strance from the real fathers, who complained, wifh 
great justice, that they, who had suffered all the 
anxious cares of paternity, were frustrated of their 
rights by the fraudulent intervention of men who 
suddenly acquired the title of parent, without ful- 
filling any of its duties, or feeling any of its solici- 
tudes. 

The mode of education generally adopted at Rome, 
Varied, at different periods of the republic, according 
to the changes whirh the manners of the people un- 
derweut through the introduction of commerce and i 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



SOi 



the sciences, and the progress of luxury and refine- 
ment. While vvaK and agriculture formed the chief 
occupations, it had little other object than the at- 
tainment of those arts, and was wholely achieved 
under the paternal roof; every father being then ca- 
pable of instructing his sons in the use of arms and 
the- practice- of husbandry, and every mother con- 
veying to her daughters, in her own example, those 
practical lessons of house wifery to which their sim- 
ple acquirements were confined. Even those young 
men whose rank entitled them to aspire to civic ho- 
nors, required but little previous instruction to enable 
them to fulfil the duties of the magistracy. There 
were but iQ\v written laws before the promulgation of 
those of the twelve tables, and these the most simple 
and definite; but suited to that rude state of society 
in which most of its members were unacquainted 
with the arts of reading and writing,* and in which 
the limited nature of property gave rise to but little 
collision of interests. But when an intercourse with 
the Greeks had inspired the people with a taste for 
the fine arts, and the accumulation of wealth had 
diffused its attendant polish over their habits of life, 
then arms and the sciences were equally cultivated; 
a more liberal form of education was adopted; and 
public schools were opened for the reception of the 
youth of both sexes. 

It was a maxim with the Romans, that education 
should keep pace with the progress of intellect from 
its earliest dawn: instruction, therefore, commenced 
the moment children gave signs of comprehension. 
At this period, they were confided to the care of 



* " Jtfost of its members -were unacquainted with the arts of 
readi7ig and -writing " — At that early period, a brazen stud was 
annually affixed to the gate of the temple of Jupiter to commem- 
orate the number of the revolving years; and when the progress 
of literature had rendered such a record unnecessary, the cere* 
fliohy was still continued, and performed- with great pomp b^ 
tfee consuls, as a religious act to avert public calamities* 



gQ3 DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

some matron of the family, whose chief duty it was^ 
to watch over their growing passions, and to cor- 
rect them; to direct their inclinations; and- to give 
them habits of order and obedience. As they ad- 
vanced in age and reason, their instructress inculcated 
the precepts of morality, and, above all, endeavoured 
to inspire them with the principles which formed 
the true character of the Roman citizen: — veneration 
for the gods; submission to parents; attachment to 
the constitution, and the cause of liberty; and love of 
their country. They were then instructed in litera- 
ture at some public seminary; and as they grew to- 
wards manhood, they were habituated to all the ath- 
letic exercises that could impart agility or grace, and 
fit them for the profession of arms. Nor were the ac- 
complishments of polished life neglected: both sexes 
were taught the lute, and the cithara* and their man- 
ners and deportment were carefully attended to. 

When the period allotted to the studies of youth 
had elapsed, and they were invested with the virile 
robe, young mm of family were placed under the 
protection of some senator of distinguished reputa- 
tion for his knowledge of jurisprudence. Although 
not considered as a preceptor^ he afforded them the 
benefit of his advice and example, and under his 
auspices they were initiated into public business, and 
acquired a practical knowledge of the laws. 

Eloquence, and the military art, were the surest 
roads to preferment; and the character of an able 
orator, or soldier, led to the first dignities of the 
state. They placed these qualities nearly on a level; 
this, as defending the republic from its enemies 
abroad; that, as providing for its security at home. 

Eloquence was taught, as a science, at public 
schools, where composition and declamation were 
studied in both the Greek and Latin languors. 
The study of the Greek was not only fashionable, 
but was considered as, in s< me measure, necessary 
In a country which had derived its literature from 



INSTITUTIONS OP THE ROMANS, 



203 



Greece; 5 * and it was usual with persons of high con- 
sequence, to entertain some Grecian man of letters in 
their house for the instruction of their children, and 
to allow him to receive pupils, also, from among the 
young nobility. It was also customary for young 
men of rank to complete their education at Athens; 
or at Marseilles, which at that period contained a 
very learned university. 

The youth, of every condition, were not alone 
trained to arms, and inured to the fatigues of war, 
by the exeicises we have already mentioned as 
forming part of their education, but afterwards, also, 
in the Campus Martius on their assuming the toga; 
and when they joined the armv, they were employed, 
indiscriminately, in the most laborious dutfes of the 
camp and the field. u Thus formed," says Sallust, 
" no toil fatigued, no diffi ulty disheartened, no dan- 
ger dismayed t he mr their courage was superior to 
all. No combat so animating to th m as that in 
which they contended for the prize of glory; to 
cha»ge the enemy, to scale a fortress, to distinguish 
themselves by some daring action, and make them- 
selves respected for their valor — this was their am- 
bition; and in fame alone they placed both honor, 
riches, and true nobility. "f This ardor for military 
glory was at once the cause, arid the effect of the 
justly great reputation of the Roman arms; and 
we may judge from the exaggerated praises be- 
stowed on it, by the author just quoted, how sedu- 
lously it was nourished, and with what enthusiasm 
it was sustained. 



* " Derived its literature from Greece." It is remarkable that, 
although Latin was spoken throughout the foreign possessions 
of the Roman Empire, it never became the exclusive language of 
all Italy, in the southern provinces of which the Greek contin- 
ued predominant until long after the fall of the Western Empire. 

f Sail. Bell, Vat, in procem. 



gO# DOMESTIC MANNERS ANB 

The education of females, also, became an object 
of equal attention. No longer confined to subjects of 
domestic economy, it extended to both Greek and 
Latin literature, and the cultivation of every grace 
and talent with which the sex is so eminently gifted. 
Formed to embellish life, no sooner were womin 
emancipated from the trammels of domestic slavery, 
in which they had been held, than t Key acquired an 
influence — more it It, indeed, than acknowledged — 
which gradually refined the manners ot the men, and 
shed its lustre over society: while availing themselves 
of the sources of information newly opened to them, 
they successfully improved their own natural powers 
of intellect, and many Roman ladies made a distin- 
guish] figure in the republic of letters. 

Such were the cares which the Romans bestowed 
upon the education of their youth: no people ever 
carried them farther: hence the number of truly 
great men, and eminent women, which Rome has 
produced, and the virtues by which they were adorn- 
ed, durHg the briliant sera of the republic. Happy 
if their history could be closed with that epoch: but 
the tide of luxury which was afterwards admitted, 
swept away every vestige of the morality of conduct 
and real dignity of manners, the simple elegance 
and social intercourse of domestic life, b\ which they 
had been distinguished; and introduced a train of de- 
basing vices, a frothy superficial deportment, with 
a vulgar ostentation and disgusting prolusion; ac- 
companied by the meanness ever attendant on prodi- 
gality. The accounts transmitted to us ot the* luxu- 
ry of Rome during the latter reigns of the emperors, 
may excite our astonishment, but can neither com- 
mand our respect, nor admiration: and if we sympa- 
thize in her fail, it is because the refulgence of her 
ancient glory throws a ray of illusive brightness over 
the gloom of her final degeneracy. 



S0£ 



CHAPTER XX. 



Funeral Rites-— Inhumation. — Custom of Burning the 
Bead. — Attentions to the Dying. — The last Obsequies. — 
Sepulture,— 'The Funeral Pyre — Sacrifices*— Gladia- 
torial Combats. — Mourning. — - Tombs.— -Monumental 
Inscriptions. 

The simple affections of nature, independently of 
all civil and moral obligations, have in every stage of 
society, dictated the last attentions to the remains of 
departed friends. Neither law nor religion has pre- 
scribed the forms in which they are paid. They 
grow out of sentiments of public decorum and pri- 
vate regard, and, springing rather from the heart 
than from the mind, are sanctioned by one common 
feeling; while the solemnity by which they are sur- 
rounded guards them from the innovations to which 
the less impressive actions of life are exposed* 
T hus, they survive the common usages of society; 
exist when other customs coeval with them have 
ceased; and are but slowly exchanged for newer cer- 
emonies. 

During the greater part of the commonwealth, 
the only mode of disposing of the dead, among the 
Romans, was by inhumation. At a very remote 
period, it is said to have been customary with them, 
to inter the chief persons in a family- in their own 
houses: to which has been attributed much of that 
superstitious awe of departed spirits which formed 
so prominent a feature in the Roman character. But 

T 



gO g DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

the fact itself, not only rests upon rather weak au- 
thority, but is in contradiction with one of their most 
settled prejudices: and the consequence deduced 
from it may, with more probability, be attributed to 
the form of their religion, and to that bias of the 
mind to dwell on supernatural objects which seems 
to belong to all unenlightened ages. 

The custom of burning the- dead, though very an- 
ciently practised among the Greeks, and of great an- 
tiquity among the Romans, was not generally adopt- 
ed by the latter until towards the close of the repub- 
lic: but it afterwards became universal, and was con- 
tinued uninterruptedly until the introduction of* 
Christianity, soon after which, it gradually fell into 
disuse. 

Although the anxious solicitude with which affec- 
tion guards departing friends — immutable ars our na- 
ture, and uninfluenced by the vicissitudes of fashion — 
has been the same in every age, and every clime, 
yet, the very impulse which directs it has given birth 
to various forms, as final demonstrations of respect 
and tokens of regard. Among the Romans, the 
bed of the dying was never abandoned to hireling at- 
tendants, but was surrounded by relatives and inti- 
mates who lavished every endearing attention due to 
the melancholy occasion. As life began to ebb, 
they, in succession, and in accents of the deepest 
sorrow, bade a long farewell to their expiring friend; 
and, when the last awful moment approached, the 
nearest relation present closed the eyes, while, from 
an idea that the soul was exhaled in the last sigh, 
he bent over the body to catch the parting breath. The 
corpse was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the 
most costly robes belonging to the deceased; and laid 
out in the vestibule,^ on a couch strewed with flow- 



* ( The vestibule. 9 — This must not be understood in the modern 
acceptation of the term. It was, in fact, an open space, within 
the enclosure of the outer wall, but before the house itself: — 
*locus vacuus ante Januam domtis, per quern a, via ad JEtdes itur* 
Aul. GelL 1. xvi. c. 5.— See Chap. iy. p. 34. 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



goy 



crs, with the feet towards the outer door, which was 
shaded with branches of cypress. 

From that strange mixture of celestial attributes 
and earthly propensities in which the heathen my- 
thology clothed its deities, it was a received opinion, 
that Charon would not convey the departed spirit 
across the Styx without payment of an ancient toll to 
which he had become entitled by long established 
usage: a small coin was, in consequence, placed in 
the mouth of the deceased, to- satisfy the demand of 
the stern ferrvman. 

The funeral took place by torch-light. The corpse was 
carried with the feet foremost, on an open bier covered 
with the richest cloth, and borne by the nearest rela- 
tives and most distinguished friends. The proces- 
sion was regulated . by a director of the ceremonies, 
attended by lictors dressed in black and bearing their 
fasces inverted; and, if the deceased had been a 
military m*n, the insignia of his rank were displayed; 
and the corps to which he had belonged marched in 
the train with their arms reversed. The body was 
preceded by the image of the deceased, together with 
those of his ancestors; then went musicians with 
wind instruments of a larger sizt: and deeper tone 
than those used on less solemn occasions, and mourn- 
ing women who were hired to sing his praises; before 
whom were dancers and buffoons, one of whom re- 
presented the character of the dead man, and endea- 
voured to imitate his manner when alive. The fami- 
ly of the deceased followed the bier in deep mourn- 
ing; the sons with their heads - covered, the daugh- 
ters unveiled and with their hair dishevelled, magis- 
trates without their badges, and patricians without 
their ornaments: his freedmen with the cap of liber- 
ty on their heads, closed the prorrssioii. 

The obsequies of persons of rank were distinguish- 
ed by a funeral oration in their honor, which was 
pronounced over the body by some near friend. 
This ceremony took place in the forum, and was, 
during the republic, a mark of consideration confer* 



gQg DOMESTIC MANNERS AND 

red only on distinguished personages, and by order 
of the senate; but, under the emperors, it became 
general, as a tribute of private respect and affection, 
and was bestowed on women as well as men. 

While the practice of sepulture prevailed, the bo- 
dy was either interred without a coffin, or deposited 
In a sarcophagus, the form of which was that of a 
deep chest. On the conclusion of the ceremony, the 
sepulchre was strewed with flowers, and the mourn- 
ers took a last farewell of the honored remains. The 
attendants were then sprinkled with water by a priest, 
to purify them from the pollution which the ancients 
supposed to be communicated by any contact with a 
corpse; and all were dismissed. 

When the custom of burning the body was intro- 
duced, a funeral pyre, of wood and other combusti- 
ble materials, was raised in the semblance of an altar, 
on which the bier was placed, with the corpse out- 
stretched upon it, and the eyes opened. The proces~ 
sion then moved slowly round to the sound of solemn 
music; while the mourning matrons, who attended— 

'With baleful cypress and blue fillets crown'd, 
With eyes dejected* and with hair unbound/ 

chanted a requiem to the deceased; and the nearest 
relative: advancing from the train with a lighted 
torch, and averting his face from the body, set fire 
to the awful pile. Perfumes and spices were then 
thrown into the blaze by the surrounding friends, and 
when the fire was extinguished, the embers were 
quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected, 
and enclosed in an urn of costly workmanship, which 
was afterwards deposited in the mausoleum of the 
family. When the solemnities were in honor of a 
man of high rank, they were accompanied with 
much military pomp; and if a soldier, his arms, and 
the spoils he had taken from the enemy, were added 
to the funeral fire. 

It was a received opinion among the ancients, that 
the manes of the deceased were propitiated by bloody 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE ROMANS. 



209 



Wherefore it was always their custom to slaughter, 
on the tomb of the deceased, those animals to which 
he was, while living, most attached; and in the 
more remote and barbarous ages, men were the vie* 
tims of this horrid superstition.— 

'Arms, trapping's, horses, — by the hearse were led 
In long- array — the achievements of the dead- 
Then pinion'd, with their hands behind, appear 
The unhappy captives, marching in the rear, 
Appointed offering's in the victor's name, 
To sprinkle with their blood, the funeral flame.' 

# Dry den's Virg. iEn. b. xi. 

• 

Nor were these human sacrifices always confined 
to captives taken in war; domestic slaves were some- 
times immolated to their masters, and there are in- 
stances on record of friends having thus devoted 
themselves from motives of affection. In process of 
time this savage rite gave way to one scarcely less 
revolting, and in lieu of it they adopted that of the 
gladiatorial combats, which continued, until their 
final abolition, to form part of the last solemnities.^ 

The period of mourning, on the part of men, or 
of distant relatives, was short. Widows were bound 
to mourn for their husbands during an entire year. 
But the edict which ordained this outward demon- 
stration of respect to the memory of their deceased 
lords, was promulgated when the year consisted of 
only ten lunar months: and the widows — doubtless 
nourishing in their bosoms tk that grief which passeth 
show"-— were ever satisfied to construe the law ac- 
cording to its strictest acceptation* Their mourning, 
therefore, lasted, in fact, only nine calendar months, 
during which time they laid aside every kind <;f or- 
nament, and dressed — during the time of the repub- 
lic, in black; hut afterwards in white. 

Neither sepulture, nor the more common obse* 
qui^s, were allowed within the walls of the city, ex- 



*$ee JPliny's Letters, b. iv. ep. 2. and b. vi. ep. 34* 



g j O DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE ROMANS. 

cept to the vestal virgins, and to some families of 
high distinction whose ancestors had acquired that 
privilege as a public testimony of their services to 
the state. This prohibition was not alone dictated by 
precaution for the health of the inhabitants, or for 
the safety of the town, which might have been en^ 
dangered, either by putrid exhalations from the in- 
terred bodies, or by the flames of funeral fires; but, 
also, by an idea, very generally entertained by the 
nations of antiquity, that the place in which a 
corpse was deposited was defiled. 

The tombs of military men, and of persons of 
rank, were usually raised iw the field of Mars, and 
those of individuals of more private station, in the 
gardens of their villas, or, frequently, by the side of 
the public road, that thus their remains might attract 
the observation, and their spirit receive the valedic- 
tion, of the passing traveller. Many of these ancient 
sepulchres still exist, engraven with various monu- 
mental inscriptions recording the virtues of the de- 
ceased, and the respect of surviving friends: those 
on the splendid mausoleums of the great, generally 
display a pompous detail of the titles and the quali- 
ties by which they were distinguished, and are often 
but faithless memorials of their real character; while 
the more simple tffasions of affection on the lowly 
tombs of the humble, seldom contain more, than a 
memento to the reader of his own mortality, and to 
the dead, the artless wish. — "may the earth lie ligiU 
on thee!" 

"Shades of our sires! O sacred be your rest, 

And lightly lie the turf upon your breast ! 

Flowers round your urns breathe sweets beyond compare^ 

^nd spring eternal shed its influence there ! 

GifforiVs Juvenal, sat. vih 



3ifc 



IXD^X. 



[The number designates the Page; the letter N, immediately 
following it, signifies, that the reference is to the notes.] 

ACANTHUS, a plant so called, 48. 

Actors, dramatic, declared infamous, 142 — woVe masks, 
143 — singular mode of recitation ad pted by, 144 
- — their distinctive dress, 145— their factions, and 
expulsion from Italy* 146 — their remuneration, Of. 
N.— punishment indicted on some, ib. 

AH option of children, 199 — motives for the, 200. 

Adrian, vid Hadrian. 

JE>culapias, temple of, 43. 

tMsop the tragedian. h?s profusion, 117— fortune, 118— » 
anecdote of his son, ib N. 

AffiUa ion, form of, 199. 

Jlgaso* domestic slave so denominated, 6. N. 

Agriculture, general attention to, 2, 

•fl'gripp a * arqueduct of, 98 — baths of, 99 

Amber, 176. 

Amphitheatres, number of. 37. N— described, 148. 

Jlndroniciis M. Livius^ 199. 

Anecdote, of Sal lust the historian, 17 — illustrative of 
sn )er&tition. 63 — of Scipio, 72 80 — of MutnmiuSj 
88, N— ol ttdio|abartrs, 106. 109— of Ms^p, 118 $ 
—of Anton) a d Cleonatra. 123— >fCleonat ; , 127 
— of Veru*. <27 — of Doinitian, 128 — of rii»eriu%. 
131— of Cato the Censor* 189— -of Uiceio* ib* 



%l% INDEX. 

•flngusticlavictn an ornament worn by knights, 163. 

jjntoninus. column of, described, 40. 

Antony, Mark, his suppers, 117 — anecdote of him and 
Cleopatra, 123— his excess in wine, 131— •-his mar- 
riage wi h Cleopatra, l92. . 

Apartments, for general reception and family accommo- 
dation, 34. 1 04 — how heated* 55 — perfumed, 107 
—for dressing, l67— bridal, 186 

Jlpicius* his extravagance, 1 17 — death, ib —.family of the 
Apicii. 118. N— his receipt for diessing sow's teats, 
119. N. 

Apothecary, origin of the term, 44. 

Aquatic theatres, 152. 

Aquedii'-ts, number of, in ancient and modern Rome, 37, 
N — when first constructed, 98 — desciibed, ib. 

Armorial bearings, 10 163. 

Army, composition of the, 9. 

Arrogation. form of, 199. 

Jlruspiees, 64. 

Assembly f the people, 4. 78. 

Jlthenodorus* anecdote of, 63. . 

Athens, haunted house at, 63 — prytaneum of, 92 — uni- 
versity of, 203. 

Striensis domestic slave so denominated, 6. N. 

Jlirium, description and uses of the, 34. 74, 

Att'lian law, 8. N. 

Augurs, college of, 64. 

Augustus, date of the usurpation of, 8, N — his eneour- 
aaemert of the arts and sciences, 95 — his edict lim- 
iting the expense of entertainments, 116— his seve- 
rity to some >ommedians, 146 — his regulations re- 
specting the use of the toga. 157 — his seal, 162 — his 
laws for the encouragement of marriage, 178 — his 
efforts to check divorces, 190 — his own divorce and 
re-marriage, 191. 

oBurms, a Roman coin, 45. 

Babylonians, their division oftime, 59. 

Ba^ pipes, 140. 

Ball, various games of, 80. 

JBufneator domestic stave so denominated, 6, N. 

Ba», the Roman. 24 — fees at, 25— eloquence of, 26— time 
of pleading at. 27. 

Barbers, female^ 6. N*. « 



INDEX. 



21& 



Basilicas, halls of justice so called, 39. N — Basilica Va- 
ticana, ib. 

Baths, public, number of, 37. N — at what hour opened, 
96. 101 — their magnifieen6e, 99 — of Agrippa, of 
Nero, of Caracalla, and of Dioclesian, 99 — present 
state of the latter, 100. 101. N— of Caracalla de* 
scribed, 102 — private, ib. 

Bay-trees. 55. 

Beards, 156. 

Bed-chambers, 186* 

Beer, 135. 

Bees, 136. 

Bells, 36. N. 112. 

Birds, singing, used as food, 116 — extraordinary num- 
ber served at an entertainment, 117. 

Blind-man's-buff, conjecture respecting, 15. N. 

Boars, served at the table of Mark Antony, 117— a la 
Troyenne, 121. 

Bolero, conjecture respecting the, 145. 

Books, how transcribed and put together, 93. 

Bounty, public, to necessitous citizens, 11 — its amount? 

Boxing, 81. 

Brankursine. 48. N. 

Breakfast, 78— a la fourchette, 129, 

Breeches, 159. 

Brides, portion af, 181— *dress of, 184 — how conducted 
home, and received, ib. — their apartment, 186, 

Rridles, 84. 

Bronze. 113- N. 

Buffoons, 126. 143. 

Burning the dead, custom of. 206 — ceremony of, £07. 

Buskins, la9— <>£ senators, 169 — of ladies, 175 — of the 
emperors, ib. 

Cesar* Julius, his arrangement of the year, 61 — en- 
forces the sumptuary laws; 115 — portrait of, l6l e 

Caia, Ccecilia. account of. 184, N. 

Calamus, the reed so called, 94. N. 

Calends, vid Kalends. 

Caligoe, shoes worn by the soldiery, so called, 42. N: 

Caipurnian, Caecilian, ard Cornelian la« s. 8. N. 

Qampus Martins 81 — portico in the, 91— exeiGises iUu 
the, £03— Umibs in the, 210, 



g f£ INDEX* 

Candidates, for office, their mode of canvassing for vote*, 
77 — origin of the term, 156. 

Canopies, 105. 

Capitol, description of the, 37— traditionary origin of 
its name, 39 — its present remains, ib. N. 

Caracatla, his baths described 100 

Carriages, 85 — mode of yoking cattle to them, 86 — ani- 
mals used in, ib. 

Carvers, at supper, 112. 

Carystian marble, 53. N. 

Cato the censor, 2. 7— speech of, on the repeal of the 
Oppian law, 7. N — hi& conviviality, 111. 131 — his 
opiaion of gaming, 124 — bon mot of, 128 — his di- 
vorce and re-marriage, 189. 

Cellarius, domestic slaves so denominated, 6. N. 

Censors, their powers, 1 9— abolition of. 20. 

Census of the Roman people, 20 — in the reign of Clau- 
dius, 43. 

Centumviral court, constitution and powers of the, 
28. N. 

Centumviri, judges so called, 28. 

Ceremonies, religious, 69-— of the table, 110 — of mar- 
riage, 182. 185.— funeral, 205. 

Ceylon, island of, 137. N. 

Chapels. 70. 

Chapters ot flowers. 11! — singular custom and anecdote 
respecting. 123 — of Vervain, 124. 

Cbariot*i aces, 8A. 

Charon, 207. 

Chess, 90 

Chian wine, 135. N. 

Children, their dress, 155 — marriage of, 178 — Ibridm* 
and illegitimate, 180 — nubile agejpf, ib —of concu- 
bines, 192— exposition of. 193 — sale and emancipa- 
tion of. 194 — hen named, I9r — how named, ib.—> 
education of, 200. 203. 

Chin neys, 35 

Chironumontes. domestic slave so denominated, 6. N. 

Cluamys, a o.ibtarj' dress, 163. 

Crnusr 70. 

Christianity, introduction of, 68. 1 92 205. 

Christians, cruelties }>rac'ised oni 151 152. N. 

Churches, ni .-ruber of. in ooderu Kume, 37. N— churc% 
of St. merS S8. N* 



INDEX. g 15 

Cicero his levees, 74 — his villa at Tusculum, 89 — his 
maxims for conversation, ib. — his divorce, 189. 

the younger, excesses of, 131. 

Cincinnatus Quintus, 2. 

Circus Muarimus, dimensions and description of the, 81 
— period of its construction, 82. N. 

Circuses, number of, 37. N. 82 — mode of racing in, 143. 

Cithara, a musical instrument, 126 — described, 140— 
taught, 202. 

Citizens of Rome called Quirites, 3 — how classed. 9— 
their morning avocations, 69 — their pecuniary situa- 
tion, 75 — their afternoon amusements, 79. 

Citron- wood, 105. 

Clans, 197. 

Cleopatra, wager gained by, 118 N — anecdote respecting 
her and Mark Antony, 123 — her presents to An- 
tony, 127. 

Clepsydra, or water clock, 58 — of Plato, 141. 

Clients and patrons, connexion between them. 23— their 
reciprocal obligations, ib. — attentions of the for- 
mer, 74. 

Cloaca maxima, 42. 

Clocks, various kinds of, 58 — modern, invention of, ib» 

Codes of the Emperors Theodosius and Justinian, 29. 

Coemption, a form of marriage, 182. 

Coffee, 137. 

Coins in common circulation, enumeration and value of 
the, 45. 

Colisaeuni, dimensions and description of the, 148. 

College, of Augurs," 64— >f Pontiffs, 65. 191.199. 

Combats of gladiators, 12.143. 148. i49 — how conduct 
ed, ib. — when introduced and exhibited, 150 — re- 
straints on. and abolition of, 151 — at funerals, 209* 

of wild beasts, 151. 

Combs, 168. 

Comedians, their distinctive dress, 14*5' — their factions, 
ib — punishment inflicted on some, 146. 

Comedy, 142— of errors, Shakespeare's, whence deriv- 
ed. 144. 

CommissatiO) a meal so called, 129. 

Commerce, foreign, 138. 

CommoduSi the emperor, prowess of, at the amphithea- 
tre, 152 — his hair, 169. 



^16 INDEX, 

Concubinage, 192. 

Gonfarreation, a form of marriage, 182. 

Conscript fathers, origin of the title of, 16. 

Constantine the Great, abolishes the punishment of -cru- 
cifixion, 14 — annuls the penalties on celibacy, 179 
—•power of fathers over their children in the reign 
of, 195. 19o. 

Consuls, when first appointed, 18 — their authority, 19 
— how chosen, ib — continuation of their powers, 
and abolition of their office, ib. 

Cooks, 115. 

Coquus, domestic slave so denominated, 6, N. 

Corinthian brass, J 13. N. 

Cornelius, bequest of, for the benefit of orphans. 45. 

Corsets, 172. 

Cosmetics, 169 — of Ponpsea, 170. 

Cossus, the PrgSett, 131. 

Cotton-plant, 174. N. 

Couches, 105 — size of, 106 — how arranged and furnish- 
ed, ib. 

Couriers, 3. 

Courts of justice. 27. 77. 

Crossus, amourtt of his fortune, 46 — his plate, 109. 

Crypto Porticus. 89. 

Ctesibius? the inventor of water-clocks, 58. 141. 

Cubicularius, domestic slave so called, 6. N. 

Curice, a division of the Roman people* 9. 

Curius, Marcus, 2. 

Curule-chair, description of the, 21.. 

magistracy, why so termed, 21. 

Cyathus, 122* 

Dances, 80. 145. 

Dancing-girls, 126. 145. 

Diamonds, whence procured, 137 — dust of, 176. 

Dice, va nous games with, 125. « 

Didian law, 1 i 5, 

Dinner, 79. 129. 

Diocletian, construction and present state of the baths of, 

'99, and 100. N. 
Discus, game of, 81. 

Dispensator y domestic slave so denominated, 6, N; 
Divorce, laws of, 187. 188 — ceremony of, ib — first in- 
stance of, ib. — abuse of, 189 — consequence o£ ib. 



INDEX; 



817 



Document, curious, of the reign of Trajan, 45. 

Domestic worship, 35. 70. 200. 

JDometian, extraordinary occasion on which he convened 
the senate, 121— -singular entertainment given by, 
128 — edict of, respecting vineyards, 132. 

Doiiius Aurea y or s olden palace of Nero described, 33. 

Dowry, of women, how paid, 181 — of the daughter ofCn. 
Scipio, 182. 

Drama, the, 142. 

Dramatic entertainments, 143. 

Dress, that worn at table, 107 — of dramatic actors, 145 
— of citizens 154, 157, etseq.— of generals, 155, 163 
— of knights, 155— of the priesthood and magis- 
tracy, t&.-*-of -children and youths, ib. — that worn 
in the morning, 156 — of Julius Caesar, 161 — of 
senators and knights, 163 — military, ib — for the 
head, 168— of ladies, 172— of brides, 183— of 
widows, 209. 

Dressing-rooms of ladies, 167^ 

Drums, 142. 

Ear-rings, 162. 

Eating rooms, 104. 113. 

Education, 200. et seq.-^-of females, 204. 

Egypt, ancient computation of time in, 61 — fortune* 
tellers from, 64 — manufactures of glass in, 122— 
trade through, 137, — lapidaries in, 162. N. 

Elephant, belonging to the emperor Galba, 162- N. 

Eloquence of the bar, 25 — taught as a science, 202. 

Emancipation, vid. Manumission. 

Engraved stones, 162. N. 

Equinox, calculation of time at the period of the, 59. 

MquUes, vid. Knights, 

EphorL Lacedaemonian magistrates, 103. 

Epicures, ancient regulation respecting;, 103. 

Epicurism instances of, 115. 116. 117.~N. 118.119, 

Epistolary correspondence, 93. 

Epitaphs, 185. N. 210. 

Mptikalamiunij 186. 

Escuiapius, vid. iEsoulapius. 

Esop, vid. iEsop. 

Estates, hoi* cultivated, 56 — rent of how paid, ih. 

Exposition of children, 193. 194. 195. 

U - 



A|g INDEX. 

Fabiola, the foundress of hospitals, 44. 

Factions, of chariot-racers, 81-- of comedians, 145. 

Falernian wine, 132. 135. 

Fandango, conjecture respecting the, 145. 

Far, a species of flour, 182. 

Fasces and securis described, 22. 

Fannian Jaw^ 1 15. 

Fermented liquors, 135. 

Fescennine verses, 142. 

Festivals, public, 62— Saturn alian, 124. N. — Salian, 18$. 

Fire, sacred, 66 — funeral, 207. 

Fish, oysters, 116 — number served at an Entertainment, 

ib — sur-mullet and pike, ib, N. — brought to table 

alive, 121-- honors rendered to, i6.— turbot, 122. 
Fish ponds, 65. 

Flaccus, Pomponius, promoted for his conviviality, 131. 
Flamen, 65 - -of Jupiter, ib. 
Flower gardens, 54. 
Flutes, 'l40. 

Forks, H2 — their introduction, ib. N. 
Fortunes, acquired by lawyers, 25— enjoyed by some 

Patricians, 46. 
Fortune-tellers, 64. 

Forum, description of the, 38 — its present state, 39. N. 
Foundiing-hospitals, 44. 
Fountains, number of, in ancient and modern Rome, 37. 

N.— of Albula or Tivoli, 99. 
Freedmen, 15. 75. 138. 178. 182. 207. 
Fruits, of Italy, 136. 
Funeral ceremonies, £06.— of inhumation and burnins:, 

207- urns, 208. 
Furniture, 104. 113. 

Galleries, described, 89— their uses, 90. 

Gallince African^ H9. N. 

Game of blind- man's buff, conjecture respecting the, 
15. N.— of tennis, 79 -of fives and foot ball, 80— 
of harpastum, i&.— of quoits, ib.— of chess, 90— with 
dice, 125— of morra, ib. 

Garden bear's foot, 48. N. 

Gardens, to town houses, 36— description of one be- 
longing to Pliny the younger, 48. 52— general de- 
scription of, 54— productions of, 135.— cultivation 
of, 136. 



INDEX. 



2iy 



Geese, 119--the Capitoline, 120— livers of, ib. 

Gentiles, \ farail - v denominations, 197. 

Germanicus 157. 178. 

Gestatio, a place for taking exercise, 48— its form, 83. 

Gi ! riii;o:< the art of, how far understood. 38. N. 

Gladiators, 126. 143. -how chosen, 158— their mode of 

fighting, 149 -their fate, 150— their numbers, ib. 
Glass. 35- -windows of, ib. N. — eups of, 122— invention 

of, ib N. 
Gloves. 160. 
Gluttony, 117. 
Gods, household, 35. 70— of the Roman mythology, 67 

—of the table, 110. 
Golden house, description of the, 34. 
Greece, division of time borrowed from, 59---supersti- 

tions received from, 110- customs taken from, 99. 

124— wines of, 134— songs of, lo9- Roman come- 
dy derived from that of, 142 -fine arts derived 

from, 89, 201 -—language and literature of, 202. 
Gregorian year, 62. 
Guests, at supper parties, precedence of, 108— 

friends who accompanied them, ib.— -perquisites of, 

llO-distinction between, 112. 
Gymnasium, a school for athletic exercises, 81. 98. 
Hadrian, his regulations respecting the use of »he toga, 

l37---revives the hobit of wearing the beard, 160— 

punishes a father for cruelty, 195. 
Hair 3 100 — how worn by ladies, 168 — false, i6. — mode 

cf treating the, 169-- of the Emperor Commodus, 

ib. 

powder, ib. 

Halls of justice, 39. N. 

Harpastum. game of, 80. 

Hats, 159. 

Heliogabalus, his supper rooms, 104 — anecdotes of, 105. 

109. N his table, 117. 

Herculaneum* d\sco\e. y of the ruins of, 30 N— period of 

the catastrophe by which it was destroyed. 32. N. 
Hippodrome, a place for taking exercise, described, 49. 

51. 
Horns, 140. 
Horse-litters, 85. 



gS-0 IKDEX? - 

Horse-races, 81. 82. 

Horses, 84 — How caparisoned and shoed, ih 

Hospitals for the sick, 43 — for foundlings, 44. 

House-porters, 56. 

Household -gods, 34. 70. 182. 

Houses, interior arrangement of, 35 — mode of heating 
and lighting, ib. — general construction of those iii 
Rome, i&.— of bridegrooms, how adorned, 184. 

Hydraulicon, a water-organ, 140. 

Ibridce, 180. 

Ides* a division of time, 62 — superstition respectin 

the, 185. 
India, trade to, 137. 
Ink, 94. 

Institutes of Justinian, £9. 
Interest of money, 46. and ifo N. 
Intercalary months, 60. 
Interment, of the dead, custom of, £08— ceremony of, 

£07— place of, 210. 
Isis, temple of, 166. 

Jesus Christ, 70. 

Jewelry, whence imported, 137 — general taste for, 175 

■ — of Lolla Paulina, ib. 
Jews, their division of time, 60 — their persecution, 67^ 
Jugglers, 126. 
Julian law, 8. N. 

— year, 61. 

Jus Connubii, 180. g 

ImaginiSj 10. 
Justice, administration of, &7, 
Justinian code, pandects, and institutes, £9. 

Kalends, a division of time, 62 — superstition respecting 
the, 183. 

King of the feast. 111. 

Knights, 9 — origin and composition of the order of, 10 — 
pe< uniary qualification of, 11 — civil occupations of, 
76— distinctive dress of, 155 — and ornaments of, 
162. 163 — review of the, by Augustus, 178. 

Lacedjemon, laws at, respecting epicurism, 103 — regard* 
ing children, 193, 



INDEX. 221 

Ladies, sumptuary laws regarding, 6 — bathing of, 166— • 
their attendants, ib. — dressing-rooms, 167 — head- 
dress, ib. — hair, 169. — cosmetics, ib. — teeth, eyes, 
and eye-brows, 170 — matches; 17 i— dress, 172 — 
corsets, ib. — mantles. 173— materials of their dress, 
ib. — colours worn by, 174— their shoes and buskins, 
175 — jewels, ib. 

Land, division of, 3 — rent of, 56 % 

Lapidaries, 162 172. 

Lares, household gods so called, 34. 

Laticlavia< an ornament worn by senators, 163. 

Laurentinum, a villa belonging to Pliny the Younger' 
54. N. 

Laurus. conjecture respecting the plant so called, 54. 

Laverna^ the goddess, 72. 

Law-pleadings, limited in point of time, 27. 

Laws, published at the capitol, 3 — sumptuary, regarding 
ladies, 6 — against extortion, 8 — restraining sena- 
tors from receiving presents, 24 — general view of 
the, 28. et seq. — of the twelve tables, 29 — sumptua- 
ry, respecting plate, 109 — sumptuary, limiting the 
expense of entertainments, Orehian, Fannian, Di- 
dian, and Licinian, 115— -regarding the use of wine, 
130 — respecting the profession of dramatic actors, 
142, and their remuneration 191. N — for the pro- 
tection cf wild-beasts, 151 — to restrain celibacy, 
177 — to encourage matrimony, 178 — papian, i&.~ 
respecting marriage, 179 — of Lycurgus, and of 
Romulus regarding the exposition of children, 193 
— regarding the authority of parents, 194. et sej.— 
respecting adoption, 199 — ancient, 201. 

Law, tribunals, 27 — mode of trial in, ib. 

Lawyers, fees of, 25 — their rapacity, and edicts to re- 
strain it. ib. 

Leap year, observation respecting, 61. 

LecticcLi a kind of carriage, 85. 

Lecticaru, domestic slaves so denominated, 6. N. 

Legion, how composed, 9 

Letters, manner of folding, addressing, and subscribing 
9,3, 

Levees of the Patricians, 73. 

Libations, at supper, 110. 127 — of milk, 131 — at fune- 
rals, 208. 

U-i 



&SS INDEX. 

Libraries, private, 92 — public 95. 

Licinian law, 115. 

Uctors, their duty and insignia of office, 21, 207* 

Linen, introduction of, into Italy, 158. 172. 

L ons, 151. 

Lode stone, supposed discovery of, 138. N. 

Lotteries, 126. 

Luceres, a tribe so called,. 9. 

JLucullus^ his library and munificence, 92. 

Lustrum^ period so called, If. 

Magnet, 138. N. 

Malabar, trade to, 137. 138. 

Maltese cranes, 1 1 6. 

Mantles, of generals, 163— of ladies, 172. 

Manumission of slaves, form of the, 15. and ib. N.— 
of children,. 195. 

Market-days, 4. 

Market for slaves, 13. 

Marriage, of children, 178— decrees of consanguinity 
within which it was legal, 179— with foreigners, 180 
— les-al age for, ib. — contraction of, ib — portion 5 
181 — forms of, 182 — celebration of, 183 — festival, 
185— dissolution of, 187, 192— second, 19l— of 
Antony and Cleopatra, 192. 

Marseilles, university of, 203. 

Masks, of dramatic actors, 143. 

Mausoleums, 208. 210. 

May, superstition respecting marriage in, 18S* 

Mead, 135. 

Medicamentarii* 44. 

Meteagrides* 119. N. 

Merchants, 137. 138. 

MetheerKn, 135. 

Minors, 167. # 

Military uniform, of generate, during a triumph, 155— 
knights, ib — of generals, in common, lo3— of the 
army in general, 164. 

Mitres, 168 

Months, enumeration of the ancient, 6Q — intercalary, 
6i — ancient divisions of the, 62 — superstition re- 
specting mar^f&ge in some, 18$. 

Worm* ga m e of, 1 27 

Mourning, family, 157— of widows and widowers, 209k 



INDEX. 323 

Mammhis. anecdote of, 88. N. 
Musical instruments, 140 207. 
Muslin, 174. 

Mvos hormos, port of, 137. N. 
Myrrh, infused in wine, 136. 

Names, when bestowed on children, 197 — of females* 
ib — of various noble families, ifi— •number and spe- 
cification of, 198. 

Napkins, custom respecting, 110. 

Naumachiae. 153 

Nero's palace, description of, 33 — his bath, 99 — his sa- 
loons, 104. 

N-w-style, introduction of, in the calculation of time, 61. 

Newspapers. 91. 

N^mendators. 77. 

Nones, a division of time, 62 — superstition respecting 
the, 183. 

JS^uma. arrangement of the year by, 60. 

JsTundince, explanation of the term, 4 N. 62„ 

Olives, introduction of. into Italy ? 136* 

Opimian wine, 134. 

Oppiati law, 6 — repeal of the, 7. 

Orchestra, of the theatres, 147. 

O chian law, 115. 

O phans, provision* for, 44 — houses of reception for, 45* 

Oysters, 116. 

Palaces, number of, in ancient and modern Rome, 37. N* 

Palanquins. 85. 

Palatine librarv, 95. 

Falcestra, a school for athletic exercises, 81. 98, 

Pandects of Justinian, 29. 

Pantomimic, entertainments, 126. 143 — actors, 144., 

Pa ian law, 179. 

Papyrus, paper made from, 93, 

Parasites, 108 ib. N. 

Parchment. 93. 

Parents, privileges enjoyed by, 179 — power of, 193* 194 

— abuse of the powers of, 196. 
Parks, surrounding villas, 56* 
Pa; ting cup. 127. 
Patches^ for the face, 17k 



S2# INDEX. 

Patricians, the order of, 9 — origin of the title, 16 — for- 
tunes possessed by some, 46 -their manners, 73 — -. 
their entertainments, 1"26 -rinrgs worn by, 143 — 
families of, 197 — how eligible to the office of tribune 
of the people. 200. 

Patrons and clients, connection between them, 23— their 
reciprocal obligations, 24— mutual attentions, 74. 76. 

Paulina, Lollia, valuation of the jewels belonging to, 175. 

Peacocks. It 6. 

Pearls, dissolved in vinegar, 118— fishery of, 137. N — • 
estimation in which they were held, 176. 

Pedissequus, domestic slave so denominated, 6. N. 

Penates, homage paid to the, 34. 110. 

Penetralia, an apartment so called, 35. 

Pens- 94. N. 

Perfumes, 107— at theatres, 147— for the toilet, 167. 

Philosophers, 67. 

Physicians, 44. 

Pike, 116. N, 

Pillars of Trajan and Antonius, 40. 

Piso, Lucius, promoted for his conviviality, 131. 

Plane-trees, remark on, 52. N. 

Plate, the use of, 109 — workmanship and weight of, 110. 

Plebeians, 9 — composition of the order of, 11 — public 
bounty to, ib — general character of the, 12 — rings 
worn by, 162. 

Pliny the Younger, his conduct towards his slaves, 15. 
N — description of his villa, 48 — custom at his 
table, 127. 

Pocillator, domestic slaves so denominated, 6. N. 

Pocket-hand-kerchiefs, 160. 

Poculum boni genii, 127 

Polenta, bow composed, 166. 

Police of Rome, 40. 42. 

Follio,' Jisinius, his peculiar attention to business, 79 — * 
library founded by him, 95, 

Pompeii, discovery and description of the ruins of, 30* 
N— period of the catastrophe by which it was des- 
troyed, 32. N. 

Pontifex maximuS) 65, 

Pontiffs, their authority over the calculation of the year 9 
61 — their dignity, 65 — college of. ib — casuistry of 
the, 191— their power in cases of adoption, 200, 



INDEX Gtvx 

Popes, of Rome, shoes worn by the, 172. 

JRoppcea, cosmetic invented by, 170. 

Population of Rome, 42 — laws to encourage, 178. 

Porticos, 34. 98 — closed, 95 — form and uses of, 91— sev- 
eral, described, 92. 

Post-carriages, 86. N. 

Fosteriores, tribes so called, 9. 

Poultry, 119. 

Preetextan Robe, 155. 

Prretors, their duties, number, and mode of election. 19. 

Precedence, order of at private entertainments, 108 — * 
at the theatres, 14r. 

Presents to guests, 128. 

Priests, of the temples, 65 — of Jupiter, 66. 

Protervian sacrifice, 129. 

Prytaneum of Athens, 92. N. 

Purple, the Roman, 163. N. 

Pyres, funeral, 208. 

QuiRiNus* a name bestowed on Romulus, 3. N* 
Quirites, citizens of rlorae called, 3. 
Quoits, 81. 

Races, horse and chariot, 81. 83. 

Hamnenses, a tribe so called, 9. 

Rapacity of the governors of provinces, 88. 

Eegulus, a celebrated lawer, 25, 171. N. 

Religion, 67. 69. 

Rent, of esta-es, how paid, 56. 

Retinues of the great patricians, 74. 

Rings, for the ears, and fingers, 162 163 — wedding, 181, 

Rome, original construction of, 3i — conflagration of, in 
the time of Nero, 33 — improvements in, ib — ex- 
terior appearance, and interior arrangement of the 
houses in, 34— -gardens and statues in, 36— public 
. buildings in, 37. N. — -the «»apitoK ib — the forum, 38 
— pillars of Trajan and Antoninus, 40 — pavement, 
lighting, watching, and police of, 40 — sewers, 4 2— 
public thoroughfares, ib — population of, 43 — hospi- 
tals, ib — opulence- of. 46 — poverty in. 75. 

Romulus, called Quirmus. 3. N — his guard 10 — decree 
of, regarding patrons and clients. 23— his arrange- 
ment of, the year. 6< : — his laws respecting the expo- 
sition of children 5 193* 



226 INDEX. 

Botundus, Drusianus, weight of plate belonging to, 110. 

Mujinus, P. Corn, quantity of plate possessed by him, 110. 

JRuga, Carvilius, divorce of the wife of, 188. 

Sacrifice, protervian, 129 — -marriage, 182— -on re-mar- 
riage of widows, 192 — at funerals, £08, 

Saddles, 84, 85. N. 

Saffron, used as a perfume, 107 — mixed with wine, 136. 

Sagum, a military, dress, 170. 

Saliart feast, 183. 

Sallust the historian, anecdote respecting, If, 

Salterello, an Italian dance, 145. 

Salutation, mode of, 77* 

Sandals, 159. 

Sarcophagus, 208. 

Saturnalia, feast of the, 124. N. 

Sauce epicurienne, 122. 

Scarlet, the Roman, 163. N. 

Scipio, AfricanuS) 2 — anecdote of, 72. 81. 94— -title ? 
how acquired, 198. 
. Jlsiaticus, why so called, 198. 

, Cneius, dowry of the daughter of, 181. 

Sealing-wax, 93- 

Seals, 162, 

Sella, a kind of carnage, 85. 

Senate, how composed. 16 — review of the. 17 — assembly 
of the, when held, ib — how presided, 18 — form of its 
proceedings. i& — extraordinary meeting convened by 
Dotnitian, 121. 

Senators number and titles of, 16~mode of election of, 
ib — requisite qualifications of, ?*&— ^prohibited from 
receiving presents 24— buskins of, 159 — ring;s of, 162 
— ornaments of, l63«— pupils received by, 202. 

Sepulchres, vid. Tomhs. 

Sepulture, vid. funeral Ceremonies. 

Sewnd ib island of, 157. 

Sestertium a nomipal money of account. 45. 

Sestertius, a Ro an coin, 45. 

Severus Alexander ', chapel of, 70 — bis simplicity of dress 
162 

Sewers, 42. • 

Shaving the beard, custom of, 160. 

Ships, ero-.ploved in trade, 168 — extraordinary size of 
some, 139. 



INDEX. ggy 

Shoes, of the soldiery, 42. N— of horses, 84. 85. N — 
of ladies, 175 — of the popes, ib 

Silk, whence obtained, 137, 138. 173 — price of, ib — how 
wove, 174. 

Slaves, number and treatment of, 5— domestic, enumera- 
tion of, 6. N — order of, in the stite, 9— how consid- 
ered, 12 — how reduced to slavery, ib — marke' for_ 
and mode of selling, 13— .price of, ib— powers of mas 
ters over, ib— mode of punishment of, 14— allowan- 
ces to, ib— form of the manumission of, 15— advan- 
tages obtained by, i&— disposal of ihe property <>f* 14. 
N— employed to announce the hour, 59— engaged in 
copying manuscripts, 93— as attendants at the public 
baths, 101 —at supper parties.l 12. 

Snow, used as an article of lu*ury,l23 

Society, st ;te of, in ancient Rome, 1. 5. et seq, 204. 

Sofas, 1.0b. 

S iar-dials, 57. 

Sohdus, a Roman coin, 45. 

Sosigenps, an Egyptian astronomer, 61 62. 

Spartans, their la ws respecting epicurism, 103 — and re- 
garding the exposition of children, 193. 

Spikes, infused in wine, 136 — whence procured, 137, 

Sporiula, a gratuity so cat led, 74. 7 3 N. 

Statues, 37— of gold and silver, ib. N. 

Stirrup-cup, 1-27. 

Stirrups, 84. 85 N. 

Stockings 156 

Stola, a female dress, 172. 

Stomachers, 173. 

Streets, of Pompeii, 31— of Rome, 40. 

Stylus, used to write wuh, 94. 

Subjects of the Roman empire, supposed number of the, 46. 

Sudarium, 160. 

Sugar, 137. 

Sumptuary laws, regarding ladies, 6— respecting plate, 
109— limiting the expense of entertainments, 115— 
rema k on, 116. N. 

Superstition, anecdote illustrative of, 63— respecting salt, 
and the number in a company, 1 10— regarding fortu- 
nate days, 184— relative to witchcraft* i&— respecting 
the dead, 205. 208. 



*>■<»© INDEX. 

Supper, mode of reclining at, 106— of Vitellius, 117— of 

Mark Antony, ib when served, and how composed, 

118— favorite dishes at, ib. 124— conclusion of, 127 
—extraordinary, given by Domitian, 128. 

Supper rooms, 54 — general d esc nption of, 104 — of Nero 
and of Heliosrabalus, ib. — how ventilated, 112— or- 
naments and furniture of, 3 13. 

Star-mullet, 1 16. 

Tables, 105 — gods of the, 110 — respect paid to, ib. 

Talent of silver, value of the, 45. 

TalL 125. 

Tanaquil) vid. Caia Ccecilia. 

Taprobana, island of, 137. N. 

Tarpeian Rock, 37. 

Tatienses, a tribe so called^ 9. 

Tea, 138. 

Teeth, care of the, 170 

"Temples, number of, 37. N — of Juno, of Jupiter-Capxfco- 

linus, of Jupiter-Feretrius, and of Minerva, S6 — » 

of iEsculapius, 43. 101— of Apollo, 91. 101— of 

Bacchus and Hercules, 101 — of Ibis, 166 — of Venus, 

188. 
Tennis, game of, 50. 79. 
Tesserce, 125. 

Testamentary adoption, 200. 
Thalassius. tradition respecting, 186. 
Theatres, number of, 37. 3SJ — first erection, and size of, 

147 — disposition of the seats, siage, and scenery in, 

ib — use of perfumes in, 148. 
Theod.;sian code, 29. 
Thermo?, origin of, 99— public, 100— thermus of Gara- 

calla described, 101 . 
Tiberius.hh tyranny, 78 — his excesses. 131. 
Time, ancient divisions of e 59. 
Toga> form and materials of the, 154 — colour, 155. ib. — 

when disused by men, 157— how wove, 158 — when 

disused by females 172. 173. 
Tombs, of widows, 191 — where erected. 210— inscriptions 

off, 186. 210. 
Tonsor, domestic slave so denominated-, 6. N. 
Town-houses of Pompeii, 32— of Rome, 34. 
Tragedians, their distinctivedress, 145. 



INDEX. S2 Q 

Tragedy, 143. 

Trajan, his pillar described, 40— his benefaction to or- 
phans. 45— emancipation of a son by, l9o. 
Trial by Jury, 27. 
Trihunals, civil and criminal, 27. 

Tribunes of the people, their harangues, 4— mode of their 
appointment and election. Dumber aid powers, 20 
— office of, when filled by patricians, 200. 
Tric-trac, game of, 125. 

Trinnndinum. explanation of the term, 4. N. 
Trumpets, 140. 
Tunics, form and materials of the. 158— of that worn by 

Julius Caesar, 161 —of those worn by ladies, 172. 
Turbot, decree of the senate respecting, 121. 
Tui kies, 1 19— whether known to the ancients, ib. N t — 

their introduction into England, 120. N. 
Twelve tables, laws of the, 29. 57. 179. 201. 
Tyros, 15 b. 

Ulpian library, 95. 

Umbna, mode of supporting the vines in, 133. 

nc oi , / domestic slave so denominated, 6. N. 

Unguent anus, > 

Universities, of Athens and Marseilles, 203. 

Univiri, a title bestowed on widows, 191. 

Urns, funeral, 208. 

Usage, a form of marriage, 182. ib. 

Varro, the author, honors paid to, 95. 

Vegetables, 136. 

Veils, 168. 

Venus, temple of. 188. 

Verves, rapacity of, 89. 

VeruS) munificence of, 128. 

Vervain, ehaplet^ of, 124. 184. 

Vestals, their duties, 66— privileges and number, 67-~: 

punishment on infringement of their vows, ib, 
Vestibule. 54. 206. N. 
Viatores, 3. N. 

Vigils of the Romans and the Jews, 60. 
Viilas, 43— Pliny's, 48 et seq 54. N. 
Vinalia, feast of the, 133. 
Vines, introduction of, into Italy, 132— into France* £33* 

N— culture of* i&«— wild 170. 

X 



&30 



INDEX. 



Vin'age, 133. 

Volero, vid Bolero. 

Volume, origin of the application of that term to books, 93* 

Watches of the night, 60. 

Watchmen, 60— conjecture respecting, ib. 

,Wa*er clocks, 58. 

: organ, 140. 

Weeks, introduction of <he mode of counting by, 62. 

Widowers, 192— their mourning, 209. 

Widows, re-marriage of, 183. 192— penalty on, if re- 
married within the period of mourning, ife.— time 
and style of mourning of, 209. 

Wigs, of nsen, 161— of ladies, 168 

Wild beasts, combats of, 15 Uaws for the protection of, 
152, 

Windows, how closed, 55— of glass, 36. 

Wine, how served at table, 122, 123— early laws re- 
specting, 130— -excesses in the use of, 131,— various 
kinds ofc I ^2— process of making, 133— mode of pre- 
serving* 134— nge and pice of, i&.— Grecian. 1 35— 
profuse use of, i6.— Chian, ib. N —modes of mixing 
and giving flavor to* 136. 

Witchcraft, 184. 

Women, prohibited from drinking wine, 130— their sub- 
sequent use of it, 131— foreign, 179— restrictions on 
the marriage of, 180— marriage portions of, 181— 
names of, 197— education of, 204-^-vid. Ladies. 

Wormwood infused in wine, 136. 

Worship, forms of, 70. 71. 

- domestic, 38. 70. 1 99. 

Yeah, anrient divisions of the, 60— Julian, 61— Gregori- 
an, i6.— observation respecting leap-year, ib. N. 



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